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ORAL, 
g'OM  POSITION 

CORNELIA  CARHART  WARD 


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ORAL  COMPOSITION 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS   •    ATLANTA   •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  ft  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LID. 

TORONTO 


ORAL 
COMPOSITION 

A   TEXT    BOOK    FOR 
HIGH    SCHOOLS 


BY 

CORNELIA  CARHART  WARD,  A.M. 

(SYRACUSE,  RADCLIFFE) 
HUNTER  COLLEGE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

NEW  YORK   CITY 


• 

-fflWBHJF 

ART 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1914 


COPTBIOHT,  1914 

BT  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
Set  up  and  eleotrotyped.    Published  June,  1914 

JlBAMATfC  ART  DEFT 


FOREWORD 

FOR  several  years  there  has  been  much  discussion  of  the 
defects  in  our  high  school  teaching  of  English.  The  public 
and  the  colleges  have  inveighed  against  us,  both  for  what 
we  did,  and  for  what  we  did  not  do.  We,  as  teachers,  though 
we  knew  that  we  could  not  expect  mature  thought  from 
boys  and  girls,  and  though  we  knew  that  we  could  not  per- 
form the  miracle  of  obtaining  one  hundred  per  cent  achieve- 
ment from  youth  of  fifty  or  seventy-five  per  cent  brain 
power,  have  not  been  satisfied  with  results.  We  have  recog- 
nized the  defects  in  our  graduates,  and  we  have  seen  justice 
in  the  demand  for  more  practical  instruction.  Moreover, 
realizing  that  a  live,  broad-minded  teacher  is  worth  more 
than  an  overstrained,  nervous,  narrow  one,  we  have  sought 
relief  from  theme  correction.  At  any  rate,  we  have  said, 
singly  and  collectively,  "Oral  composition  will  solve  the 
whole  problem!" 

Granted.  But  how  should  we  go  about  it?  Strange  to 
say,  many  were  reluctant  to  try  it.  Those  who  did  groped 
their  way,  often  without  a  definite  plan  of  procedure  which 
should  make  the  work  of  value.  If  oral  composition  is  to 
be  a  vital  part  of  our  English  courses  in  the  future,  we  must 
cease  to  think  of  it  as  a  haphazard  experiment  and  must 
plan  it  just  as  carefully  as  we  have  planned  the  teaching  of 
literature  or  writing. 

The  chief  purpose  of  oral  composition  is  to  aid  in  prepar- 
ing pupils  to  stand  when  occasion  demands,  and  say  natur- 
ally, fearlessly,  and  agreeably,  as  well  as  simply  and 
clearly,  whatever  they  have  to  say.  Since  everybody  is 

v 


vi  FOREWORD 

called  on,  at  some  time,  to  do  this,  it  is  high  time  that  every- 
body be  prepared  to  meet  this  demand  as  he  meets  other 
demands  and  duties  in  life.  Nor  will  the  ability  to  gather 
his  thoughts  and  set  them  forth  in  orderly  fashion  fail  to 
react  on  his  everyday  work  and  on  his  character. 

This  book  is  an  attempt  not  only  to  help  place  oral  com- 
position where  it  belongs  in  the  curriculum,  but  to  reconcile 
the  supposed  differences,  to  bridge  the  supposed  gap  be- 
tween oral  and  written  expression.  The  pupils  must  be 
made  to  realize  that  talking,  though  often  more  effective 
than  writing,  is,  on  the  one  hand,  just  as  easy,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  needs  as  much  thought  and  preparation  as 
writing.  Most  pupils  write  better  than  they  speak.  Should 
they  not  have  a  chance  to  equalize  their  effort? 

It  is  expected  that  the  teacher  who  uses  this  book  will 
place  the  emphasis  in  composition  on  oral  expression,  and 
that  as  a  result  far  less  written  work  need  be  required. 
However,  the  basis  of  good  composition,  the  planning,  is 
provided  for  here.  The  manner  of  expressing  thought  in 
paragraphs,  sentences,  and  words  is  fully  treated.  Further- 
more, the  sections  on  material  and  kinds  of  composition, 
and  the  topics,  can  all  be  used  as  assignments  in  connection 
with  written  work. 

The  material  and  arrangement  of  the  book  may  need 
some  justification  and  explanation.  The  full  classification 
of  kinds  of  discourse  is  used,  in  spite  of  its  lack  of  orig- 
inality, because  these  kinds  are  in  constant  use,  because 
definite  training  prepares  for  public  speaking  better  than 
does  desultory,  and  because  oral  composition  should  follow 
much  the  same  progression  as  does  written.  Terms  in  com- 
mon use  have  been  used  to  avoid  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
pupils.  Many  extracts  have  been  taken  from  contemporary 
speeches,  not  because  of  any  permanent  value  they  may 


FOREWORD  vii 

have,  but  because  they  are  more  in  the  straightforward, 
simple  style  of  the  present,  and  much  more  like  what  the 
pupils  themselves  may  have  occasion  to  use  than  are  the 
classic  models.  The  great  orations  of  the  past  are  always 
available  for  study.  Ephemeral  speeches  are  not. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  teacher  will  select  according  to 
the  needs  of  his  classes.  Such  sections  as  those  on  the 
reasons  why  we  should  know  how  to  speak,  the  power  of 
speech,  and  the  history  of  the  language  are  not  intended  for 
close  study  as  material  for  examinations,  but  as  reading  to 
arouse  interest.  Needless  to  say  the  order  of  the  assign- 
ments is  not  arbitrary.  The  topics  are  intended  to  be  sug- 
gestive, since  only  the  general  scope  could  be  presented  here. 
The  wide-awake  teacher  will  make  out  new  sets  each  term, 
as  events  suggest  timely  subjects.  Current  topics  should  be 
used  whenever  possible.  The  pupils  will  suggest  good  ones. 
Teachers  of  other  branches  may  be  glad  to  formulate  topics 
that  the  pupils  can  use  in  correlation. 

Methods  in  oral  composition  differ  greatly.  The  writer 
feels  that  it  should,  if  possible,  be  made  spontaneous  in 
large  part.  Pupils  may  easily  be  led  to  clear  expression  of 
opinion,  or  to  animated  informal  debates  in  the  class  recita- 
tion on  literature.  Reports  may  be  assigned  to  volunteers 
at  first,  then  to  each  in  turn,  thus  bringing  before  the  class 
much  additional  information  in  an  interesting  form  without 
increasing  the  home  work  of  all.  For  this,  the  section  on 
topics  based  on  the  college  entrance  reading  is  intended. 
Some  teachers  may  prefer  to  take  entire  class  periods.  In- 
terest is  increased  by  allowing  the  pupils  to  choose  topics 
from  posted  lists,  not  more  than  two  taking  the  same. 

It  is  sometimes  advisable  that  the  reports  of  two  on  the 
same  topic  should  be  compared.  The  pupils  make  keen 
criticisms,  and  become  more  interested  at  the  same  time 


viii  FOREWORD 

that  they  learn  how  to  improve  their  own  work.  Sometimes 
a  pupil  critic  may  be  appointed  for  the  whole  period  and 
called  on  for  a  formal  criticism  at  the  close. 

It  may  be  found  advisable  to  use  some  of  the  sections  of 
the  book  only  for  reference,  to  fix  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils 
points  of  theory  that  have  been  worked  out  in  class  by  skill- 
ful questioning  by  the  teacher.  Pupils  find  it  difficult  to 
remember  such  points  without  reading  them  in  some  formal 
arrangement. 

Much  benefit  may  be  gained  by  reading  plays  in  class, 
the  pupils  taking  the  parts.  They  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
the  action,  interpret  the  meaning  of  the  text  better,  show 
more  interest,  and  develop  considerable  skill  in  expression. 

It  will  be  found  that  the  obstacles  to  oral  composition 
disappear.  The  pupils  soon  find  that  they  can  address 
their  fellows,  and  that  such  an  assignment  is  not  anything 
to  be  dreaded.  In  a  period  extending  over  several  years  the 
writer  has  known  but  one  absolute  failure  among  five  or 
six  hundred  girls,  from  embarrassment  in  speaking  before  a 
class.  Some  who  believed  they  could  not  collect  their 
thoughts,  when  standing,  for  the  most  ordinary  recitation, 
soon  learned  to  talk  extemporaneously  in  a  natural,  ani- 
mated manner  before  several  hundred  girls  in  assembly. 
Programs  have  been  made  up  of  talks.  Whole  periods 
have  been  taken  for  original  conversations  between  char- 
acters of  some  book.  These  often  revealed  careful  study 
and  clever  interpretations.  Informal  debates  have  been 
much  used  as  opportunity  occurred  in  class,  all  having  a 
chance  to  defend  their  views.  Pupils  have  gained  greatly 
in  the  power  of  expression  of  opinion  on  all  sorts  of  ques- 
tions. The  kinds  of  work  suggested  in  this  book  have  been 
tested,  and  found  productive  of  results. 

On  the  whole,  oral  expression,  plenty  of  it,  as  varied  as 


FOREWORD  ix 

possible,  enlivens  the  school  work,  adds  interest  to  all  parts 
of  it,  relieves  the  overburdened  teacher,  and  attains  the 
result  most  desired  and  worth  most,  that  of  giving  the  diffi- 
dent pupil  power  most  valuable  all  his  life. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  in  this  book  to  evolve  a 
method  new  or  startling.  Although  many  rules  here  given 
are  to  be  found  in  other  books  in  one  form  or  other,  they 
have  been  common  property  so  long  that  no  credit  can  be 
given.  The  exercises,  though  worked  out  independently  by 
the  author,  may  be  very  like  some  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

The  author  desires  to  thank  Miss  Mary  Percival,  of 
Hunter  College,  New  York  City,  for  reading  and  com- 
ment; Miss  Mildred  L.  L.  Taitt  for  suggestions  as  to  some 
of  the  scientific  topics;  Miss  Cornelia  Trowbridge  of  the 
Richmond  Hill  High  School,  for  a  list  of  words  often  mis- 
pronounced; Miss  Lulu  McConnick,  Job  Hedges,  John 
Mitchell,  John  Purroy  Mitchel,  Booker  T.  Washington, 
Fairfax  Harrison,  Miss  Jane  Addams,  Miss  M.  Carey 
Thomas,  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke,  Dr. 
Arthur  T.  Hadley,  Dr.  Guy  Potter  Benton,  Dr.  Talcott  Wil- 
liams, William  J.  Bryan,  Colonel  Roosevelt,  William  H. 
Taft,  and  President  Wilson,  who  have  so  kindly  given  per- 
mission to  use  extracts  from  their  addresses ;  and  the  follow- 
ing publishers  for  permission  to  use  extracts  from  copy- 
righted books  or  pamphlets:  Ferd  P.  Kaiser,  The  American 
Book  Company,  the  Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons,  The  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  The  New 
York  Sun,  Times,  and  Tribune,  the  National  Child  Labor 
Committee,  and  the  American  Association  for  International 
Conciliation. 

c.  c.  w. 

HUNTER  COLLEGE,  New  York  City,  1913. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

PAOB 

I.    WHY  WE  SHOULD  KNOW  How  TO  SPEAK        .       .       .  3-20 
Important  Place  of  Speech  in  our  Lives       ...         6 

Why  Speech  has  Power 11 

Why  Speaking  is  Preferable  to  Reading      .       .       .       17 

PART  I 
THE  CONDITIONS  OF  GOOD  SPEAKING 

II.     PREPARATION 23-61 

Choice  of  Subject 24 

Gathering  Material 31 

Outlining 34 

The  Introduction 43 

The  Conclusion 54 

III.  EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT      .       .       62-124 

The  Paragraph 62 

The  Sentence 82 

The  Use  of  Words 101 

IV.  ACTUAL  SPEAKING 125-160 

The  Use  of  the  Body 125 

The  Use  of  the  Voice 135 

Expressiveness  Through  Variation        ....  137 

Enunciation 148 

Pronunciation 156 

xi 


xii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PART  II 
KINDS  OF  WRITING  AND  SPEAKING 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.    NARRATION 163-197 

Classification 165 

Purpose 168 

Elements 171 

Technique 188 

VI.    DESCRIPTION 198-223 

Purpose 198 

Classification 198 

Method 200 

VII.    EXPOSITION 224-256 

Nature  of  Exposition 224 

Classification 225 

Essential  Qualities 226 

VIII.    ARGUMENTATION 257-313 

Nature 257 

Use 257 

Evidence 261 

Tests  of  Evidence 263 

Kinds  of  Argument 267 

Preparing  the  Brief 269 

Method  of  Debate    .  293 


PART  III 
TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE   MATERIAL 

Suggested  Outlines  for  Practice 317 

General  Topics  for  School  Assemblies  or  Classes     .        .       .       .318 

Subjects  for  Senior  Orations 319 

Topics  for  Oral  Reports  based  on  Uniform  Entrance  Requirements  322 

Examples  of  Speeches 355 


INTRODUCTION 
WHY  WE  SHOULD  KNOW  HOW  TO  SPEAK 


PROPERTY  OF 
DEPARTMENT  OF  DRAMATIC  ART 

ORAL  COMPOSITION 

CHAPTER   I 

WHY  WE  SHOULD  KNOW  HOW  TO  SPEAK 

ALTHOUGH  the  proverb  tells  us  that  "there  is  nothing 
new  under  the  sun,"  we  find  that  many  things  connected 
with  our  daily  life  and  work  have  changed  a  great  deal 
since  the  times  of  our  ancestors.  This  is  true  not  only  of 
the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life,  but  of  studies  as  well. 
We  have  only  to  think  of  the  long,  hard  study  of  the  Chi- 
nese classics  which  those  people  who  wished  to  hold  trivial 
civic  posts  in  China  have  been  forced  to  make,  or  the  an- 
cient Jewish  emphasis  on  the  learning  of  the  scriptures  and 
the  Talmud,  or  the  Mohammedan  study  of  the  Koran,  or 
the  Spartan  training  of  the  body,  or  the  Roman  education 
for  oratory  and  war,  to  see  how  differently  in  times  past 
people  have  considered  education.  A  century  ago,  the  stu- 
dent preparing  for  college  spent  all  his  study  hours  over 
Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics.  Today,  many  of  our  large 
high  schools  do  not  offer  Greek,  but  give  courses  in  science, 
and  in  commercial  and  even  in  technical  branches. 

In  the  study  of  modern  languages  there  has  been  great 
advance  in  a  few  generations.  In  Addison's  time  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  in  an  English  university  a  useful 
knowledge  of  French.  It  was  well  on  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 

3 


4  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

tury  that  Harvard  College  introduced  the  study  of  modern 
languages.  Strange  to  say,  our  mother  tongue  was  the  last 
to  receive  attention.  To  learn  to  write  Latin  verse  was 
deemed  more  important  than  to  express  one's  thoughts 
about  practical  affairs  of  everyday  life  in  the  best  possible 
way. 

Our  grandparents  tell  us  how  they  studied  grammar  and 
composition  writing  from  the  time  when  they  learned  to  say 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet  without  knowing  why,  until  the 
proud  day  of  graduation.  They  sang  such  definitions  as  "A 
noun  is  the  name  of  anything  that  can  be  known  or  men- 
tioned," and  made  queer  little  boxes  around  words  to  show 
the  relations  between  parts  of  speech.  For  state  occasions, 
such  as  the  Friday  afternoon  exhibitions,  or  the  visit  of  the 
school  trustee  or  selectman,  they  laboriously  penned  crude 
compositions  on  "Virtue,"  or  "Happiness,"  or  "Duty."  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  "composition  days"  were  dreaded,  or  that 
duty  loomed  up  as  a  fearsome,  unnatural  thing? 

Late  in  the  last  century,  we  who  are  now  your  teachers 
found  "English"  set  down  in  the  catalogues  as  of  equal  im- 
portance with  Greek,  Latin,  mathematics  and  science.  We 
thought  it  strange  that  a  language  we  had  always  known 
should  become  so  important  all  at  once,  but  we  prepared 
to  pass  Regents'  and  college  entrance  examinations  by 
studying  a  few  books  very  minutely  and  writing  paragraphs 
on  many  subjects,  and  essays  or  themes  on  a  few.  We 
learned  that  there  were  methods  of  writing  that  had  been 
found  good,  and  that  we  must  know  how  to  express  our 
thoughts  on  paper  in  an  orderly  way. 

All  this  time,  pupils  everywhere  recited,  or  "spoke  pieces." 
Everybody  knew  "Curfew  Shall  Not  Ring  To-Night,"  or 
"Bingen  on  the  Rhine."  Elocution  classes  flourished,  de- 
spite the  dread  some  members  of  them  often  felt,  and  con- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

tests  in  declamation  were  held  all  over  the  land.  Happy 
and  proud  was  the  boy  or  girl  who  displayed  a  medal  or  a 
fine  set  of  books  won  in  such  a  way ! 

Now  we  are  hearing  much  of  a  study  that  seems  to  many 
like  a  new  bugbear,  and  the  pupil  gasps  in  dismay  when 
he  hears  of  "oral  composition."  Let  us  see  what  it  really 
is  that  goes  by  a  name  much  more  alarming  than  the  thing 
itself.  It  is  only  a  bit  of  practice  in  telling  somebody  else 
what  we  have  seen,  or  what  happened  to  us  yesterday  or 
last  week,  or  an  amusing  incident  we  witnessed ;  or  perhaps 
we  want  to  tell  the  other  girls  and  boys  how  to  make  some- 
thing or  how  to  get  ready  for  a  camping  or  fishing  trip;  or 
we  may  want  to  convince  them  that  we  are  right  and  they 
are  wrong  about  something  that  is  of  vital  interest  to  us 
all  just  at  the  time.  Of  course  we  can't  do  this  unless  we 
know  how  to  express  our  ideas  in  an  orderly  way,  and 
clearly  enough  to  make  them  understood.  Then,  too,  we 
need  to  be  able  to  use  our  bodies  to  help  our  minds,  so  that 
our  speech  shall  be  interesting  and  effective.  We  are 
simply  trying  to  put  together  the  valuable  things  that  have 
been  learned  by  our  predecessors  about  writing  our  own 
thoughts  and  repeating  other  people's  thoughts,  so  that  we 
shall  have  the  full  use  of  all  our  powers  of  expression. 
Surely  this  is  something  that  we  can  enter  upon  with  enthu- 
siasm ! 

If  you  think  for  a  moment  of  the  various  kinds  of  train- 
ing the  schools  of  different  lands  and  ages  have  given,  you 
will  see  that  the  aim  was  always  to  use  what  seemed  the 
best  means  to  prepare  the  pupil  for  his  work  in  life — 
whether  it  was  that  of  a  warrior,  of  a  preacher,  a  scholar,  or 
a  statesman.  We  hear  much  now  of  vocational  training. 
The  boy  must  learn  in  school  how  to  use  a  saw  or  how  to 
keep  books  for  a  business  firm;  the  girl  is  taught  to  make 


6  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

dresses  or  cakes,  or  to  run  a  typewriter.  Is  there  anything 
that  we  need  to  be  able  to  do  better  than  the  thing  we  all 
do  every  day,  all  our  lives,  no  matter  what  our  occupation 
or  place  in  the  world? 

IMPORTANT  PLACE  OP  SPEECH  IN  OUR  LIVES 

There  are  several  reasons  why  we  find  speech  so  im- 
portant a  part  of  our  daily  life.  It  is  the  most  natural,  sim- 
ple way  of  self-expression  after  we  have  passed  the  baby- 
hood period  of  sign-language.  We  feel  that  people  are  very 
unfortunate  who  are  obliged  to  communicate  with  others  by 
means  of  the  fingers,  or  by  writing.  It  is  a  great  boon  to 
the  person  born  deaf  that  he  can  now  learn  to  talk  by  the 
right  use  of  certain  muscles.  Any  other  method  is  only  a 
substitute  for  the  use  of  the  voice,  an  artificial  means  relied 
upon  when  the  voice  fails.  Since,  for  our  convenience,  com- 
fort, and  highest  usefulness,  the  voice  must  sometimes  be 
elongated  to  reach  people  far  away,  or  multiplied,  to  reach 
many  who  could  not  hear  us  at  the  same  time,  or  preserved 
till  another  day  or  another  year,  we  use  written  signs.  But 
they  are  so  unsatisfactory  as  substitutes  that  we  have  used 
every  means  to  carry  the  vibrations  of  the  vocal  organs 
themselves.  What  should  we  do  without  the  telephone? 
We  gladly  pay  a  few  cents  to  talk  to  a  friend  in  the  same 
city,  or  to  order  our  groceries.  Sometimes  we  are  willing  to 
pay  many  dollars  for  the  privilege  of  talking  to  someone  a 
thousand  miles  away.  It  would  cost  but  two  cents  to  write 
to  him,  and  there  may  be  no  hurry.  But  we  want  the 
human  voice  to  carry  the  message.  The  phonograph  has, 
by  recording  songs  and  speeches,  given  pleasure  to  thou- 
sands. 

There  are  many  occasions  that  demand  the  use  of  speech. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

Our  most  ordinary  needs  are  thus  made  known.  If  we  want 
certain  food  we  say  what  we  want.  If  relief  is  needed  we 
voice  our  necessities.  If  we  see  a  child  in  front  of  a  run- 
away horse  we  shout  a  warning.  We  express  our  feelings, 
whether  of  pain  or  grief  or  joy,  by  means  of  speech.  Imag- 
ine writing  our  ordinary  exclamations,  or  welcome  to  a 
friend !  It  is  a  commonplace  that  social  intercourse  is  based 
on  conversation.  The  man  or  woman  who  finds  nothing  to 
say,  or  is  limited  to  the  weather  and  like  topics,  is  not  a 
social  success.  The  brilliant  conversationalist  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  desirable  addition  to  any  gathering.  In  busi- 
ness relations,  too,  verbal  expression  makes  possible  easier, 
clearer  understanding  and  greater  rapidity.  We  explain  to 
the  tradesman  exactly  what  we  want.  Business  men  carry 
on  important  deals  largely  through  personal  interviews, 
often  traveling  hundreds  or  thousands  of  miles  for  the  pur- 
pose. Few  business  positions  are  filled  without  interviews 
in  which  the  employer  is  able  to  test  the  personality  and 
powers  of  the  candidate  through  conversation.  Indeed,  in  all 
the  affairs  of  life,  the  deaf  and  the  speechless,  or  those  even 
diffident  in  talking,  are  at  an  incalculable  disadvantage. 
Who  does  not  find  it  necessary  to  employ,  at  some  time, 
his  powers  of  oral  expression?  The  clergyman,  the  teacher, 
and  the  lawyer  are  absolutely  dependent,  not  only  for  suc- 
cess, but  for  a  livelihood  in  their  professions,  on  this  power. 
The  physician,  though  he  may  practice  more  than  he 
preaches,  must  make  his  directions  to  the  patient  and  the 
nurse  so  clear  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  in  following 
them.  He  may  be  called  upon  to  lecture  before  medical 
students,  or  before  a  convention.  He,  as  well  as  other  pro- 
fessional men,  is  likely  to  serve  on  school  boards  or  com- 
mittees in  organizations  or  for  the  general  welfare.  The 
engineer  must  often  explain  certain  things  clearly  to  the 


8  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

men  under  him,  or  to  his  employers,  else  he  risks  the  right 
execution  and  may  imperil  the  lives  of  many.  Although  a 
business  man  may  be  brusque  with  his  employees,  he  must 
at  times  be  able  to  "talk  a  person  into"  a  deal,  or  to  em- 
phasize his  views  at  a  directors'  meeting.  He  must  be  ready 
to  avert  a  strike  among  his  men  by  an  apt  speech,  or  to 
smooth  the  ruffled  feelings  of  an  aggrieved  customer,  or  to 
explain  to  his  superintendent  the  best  methods  of  manage- 
ment. If  he  has  a  partner  he  must  often  support  by  force- 
ful reasons  his  wish  to  follow  a  specific  policy.  If  he  is 
employed  by  a  large  concern  he  may  some  day  find  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  defending  an  action  that  has  injured 
the  interests  of  the  firm,  or  even  of  proving  himself  innocent 
of  some  charge  brought  by  jealous  or  guilty  associates. 
Many  an  honorable  man  has  lost  position  or  reputation 
through  his  inability  to  use  the  English  language  wisely  and 
to  his  credit.  Many  a  good  man  has  lost  the  opportunity 
to  say  the  word  that  would  have  saved  another  from  de- 
spair or  crime,  because  he  did  not  know  how. 

The  tremendous  influence  of  the  spoken  word  has  been 
repeatedly  shown.  The  founder  of  Christianity  left  no 
written  sermons ;  but  in  simple  words  He  told  the  common 
people  the  great  truths  of  life  and  eternity,  and  they  fol- 
lowed Him  in  multitudes.  Wesley  drew  great  crowds  as 
often  as  he  could  speak,  and  melted  men  to  tears  and  re- 
pentance. In  our  own  day,  many  have  heard  Dwight  L. 
Moody,  a  humble,  unschooled  man,  win  thousands.  In 
courts  of  justice,  too,  lawyers  skilled  in  rhetoric  have  turned 
hostile  juries,  and  freed  even  proved  criminals.  Statesmen 
and  politicians  have  carried  assemblies  with  them;  Cicero 
saved  Rome  by  his  speeches  against  Catiline;  Patrick 
Henry,  in  a  few  impassioned  words,  roused  the  spirit  of 
revolution  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  and  through- 


INTRODUCTION  9 

out  the  colonies;  William  J.  Bryan  won,  by  his  "Cross  of 
Gold"  speech,  not  only  a  presidential  nomination,  but  world 
prominence  and  fame.  Quiet,  self-possessed  men,  true  to 
their  duty,  have  quelled  mobs  by  a  few  calm  words — mobs 
that  had  perhaps  been  fired  by  the  burning  words  of  union 
leaders  in  mass  meetings.  We  do  not  need  to  read  the  scene 
in  which  Antony  turned  the  Romans  against  the  con- 
spirators to  realize  this.  Life  is  full  of  instances. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  great  orator  or  the  man  inspired 
by  the  moment's  need  whose  words  are  more  influential  if 
spoken.  Our  entire  system  of  instruction,  since  Socrates 
walked  and  talked  with  all  who  would  hear,  has  been  based 
on  the  fact  that  speech  is  more  potent  than  written  signs. 
You  all  know  that  no  book  can  take  the  place  of  the  teacher 
in  the  classroom.  In  colleges,  where  the  students  surely 
know  how  to  use  books,  the  lecture  system  still  prevails  to 
such  an  extent  that  entire  courses  sometimes  consist  in  lec- 
tures alone.  Arrangement  has  been  made  by  which  stu- 
dents at  Columbia  or  Harvard  may  listen  to  men  from  the 
Universities  of  Paris,  Berlin,  or  Tokio,  although  their  lec- 
tures often  consist  of  material  soon  to  be  published.  From 
kindergarten  to  university,  instruction  having  the  personal 
element  through  speech,  is  considered  the  most  valuable. 
Outside  the  formal  educational  courses  the  same  factor  is 
sought.  Throughout  the  country,  lecture  centers  and  Chau- 
tauquas  have  sprung  up.  In  Boston,  under  the  Lowell  In- 
stitute, and  in  New  York,  under  the  Board  of  Education, 
hundreds  of  lectures  are  given  for  the  public  on  government, 
art,  literature,  science,  health,  and  other  topics  of  popular 
interest. 

Conventions,  too,  seem  to  increase  in  number  and  fre- 
quency. Every  trade,  profession,  and  organization,  from  a 
high  school  society  to  a  great  religious  denomination,  has 


10  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

its  gathering,  attended  by  great  numbers.  People  go  to 
Boston,  to  Denver,  Toronto,  London,  even  to  South  Africa, 
not  only  to  transact  business,  but  to  listen  to  great  speeches 
made  by  noted  men. 

Often  a  special  occasion  or  some  specific  purpose  calls 
eminent  speakers  from  great  distances.  Noted  preachers, 
such  as  Lyman  Abbott  and  Henry  Van  Dyke,  are  asked  to 
address  the  student  body  at  Harvard  or  Yale.  Henry 
Arthur  Jones  crosses  the  ocean  to  lecture  before  universities 
on  the  drama.  Perhaps  some  social  movement  is  in 
progress,  and  the  people  of  a  city  call  in  the  leaders  to 
present  the  cause.  So  Wendell  Phillips  went  about  speak- 
ing on  abolition,  and  John  B.  Gough  on  temperance.  Peace 
conferences  and  meetings  have  enlisted  the  services  of  Li 
Hung  Chang  as  well  as  of  Andrew  Carnegie.  Clubs  engaged 
in  the  betterment  of  conditions  have  asked  Judge  Ben  Lind- 
sey  to  tell  about  the  children's  court,  or  Mr.  Lunn  to  ex- 
plain socialism,  or  John  Mitchell  to  set  forth  the  principles 
of  labor  unions.  In  connection  with  literary  celebrations, 
the  Dean  of  American  literature  might  be  called  to  Boston 
to  help  honor  Longfellow,  or  William  Watson  invited  across 
the  Atlantic  to  read  a  poem  at  a  Dickens  Centenary  in  New 
York.  Political  meetings  are  held  all  over  the  land,  and 
such  men  as  Taft,  Roosevelt,  Wilson,  and  in  earlier  days 
Hill,  Blaine,  Douglas  and  Lincoln,  have  been  heard  in  many 
cities  and  towns. 

So  great  has  been  the  desire  to  come  face  to  face  with  the 
masters  of  speech  that  the  people  have  made  lecture  tours 
exceedingly  profitable  from  the  days  of  Emerson  and 
Beecher  in  the  past,  to  those  of  Hillis  and  Bryan  in  the 
present.  People  want  to  hear,  too,  the  recital  of  personal 
experiences,  and  have  flocked  to  hear  Stanley  and  Peary, 
"plain,  blunt  men." 


INTRODUCTION  11 

WHY  SPEECH  HAS  POWER 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  pen  is  mightier  than  the 
sword,  but  the  tongue  of  fire  can  penetrate  beyond  either. 
Multitudes  have  been  swayed  by  a  few  minutes'  speech. 
Policies  of  nations  have  been  changed  by  the  force  of  ora- 
tory. Great  movements  have  been  inaugurated  by  the  im- 
passioned fervor  of  a  leader.  What  power  resides  in  the 
gift  of  speech  that  can  perform  these  miracles?  Why  are 
men  still  mightily  moved  by  the  most  primitive  form  of 
human  expression  of  thought? 

There  are  various  reasons  for  this.  The  audience  is  more 
easily  reached  through  the  sense  of  hearing.  Everyone  likes 
to  hear  people  say  things  in  public.  Crowds  will  go  to  hear 
children  recite  silly  "pieces"  in  a  manner  that  is  still  worse 
than  the  matter.  Plays,  however  poor,  will  draw  people 
who  could  not  be  induced  to  read  a  drama.  Then,  too, 
there  is  an  informality  about  speech  that  is  pleasing.  The 
personal  element  is  prominent.  Indeed,  so  strong  is  this 
feeling  that  members  of  a  congregation  often  take  offence 
because  they  think  the  preacher  is  "hitting"  them,  though 
the  unfortunate  man  is  probably  generalizing.  There  is 
a  feeling,  sometimes,  of  sympathy  between  speaker  and 
hearer,  as  in  a  conversation  between  congenial  people. 
Often  one  may  see  the  older  members  of  a  congregation 
nodding  or  shaking  their  heads,  in  response  to  something 
the  speaker  says.  In  the  days  of  our  grandfathers  people 
shouted  "amen"  with  great  fervor  when  the  preacher's 
words  pleased  them.  It  is  human  nature  to  be  interested  in 
the  sound  of  a  voice,  and  to  respond  to  the  personal  touch. 

The  very  nature  of  an  audience — a  body  of  hearers,  not 
seers  only,  makes  this  interest  possible.  An  audience  is 
generally  made  up  of  people  of  various  classes  and  of  differ- 


12  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

ent  training  and  tastes.  Many  of  them  do  not  care  for 
reading,  or  do  not  read  easily,  or  find  it  difficult  to  concen- 
trate the  mind  enough  to  "settle  down"  to  a  book  of  a  seri- 
ous nature.  They  are  all  accustomed,  however,  to  speech, 
and  find  it  natural  to  listen.  They  more  readily  compre- 
hend, because  of  the  interpretative  aid  of  the  various  senses. 
Some  people  receive  ideas  most  easily  through  the  sense  of 
hearing.  Even  those  who  grasp  more  readily  the  meaning 
of  what  they  see  are  helped  in  understanding  by  the  fact 
that  they  can  see  the  person  who  is  trying  to  communicate 
with  them.  Probably  no  hearing  person  in  any  audience  is 
insensible  to  all  the  varieties  of  appeal  through  vocal  ex- 
pression. Oratory  appeals  not  only  to  the  senses,  but  to  the 
intellect  and  to  the  deepest  emotions. 

This  is  because  the  speaker  has  at  his  command  all  the 
power  he  possesses,  and  every  possible  aid  to  use  at  will. 
The  first  is  the  power  of  personality.  You  would  probably 
find  it  hard  to  define  personality,  because  that  quality  is  so 
intangible,  so  difficult  to  determine.  Yet  we  all  recognize 
something  in  each  person  that  makes  him  what  he  is — 
different  enough  from  every  other  so  that  we  distinguish 
him,  even  after  one  or  two  meetings,  from  everyone  else. 
Each  person  we  meet  impresses  us  in  a  new  way.  He  has 
certain  qualities  that  set  him  apart,  that  make  us  feel  his 
own  characteristics.  If  we  have  no  definite  impression  of 
a  person,  either  in  looks  or  qualities,  he  is  "colorless,"  lack- 
ing the  elements  that  make  up  personality. 

Sometimes  the  power  of  personality  over  an  audience 
arises  in  part  from  some  previous  knowledge.  We  are  all 
interested  in  hearing  our  personal  friends  or  acquaintances 
talk  in  public.  Not  only  do  we  feel  a  friendly  sympathy 
with  them,  and  thus  come  into  closer  mental  touch  with 
them,  but  we  overlook  defects,  so  that  we  are  rarely  re- 


INTRODUCTION  13 

pelled  or  left  unmoved.  Sometimes  the  same  condition  ex- 
ists in  respect  to  strangers,  if  we  have  previously  heard  of 
them  because  of  their  prominence  or  their  opinions.  A  man 
who  represents  a  great  cause  such  as  abolition,  or  temper- 
ance, or  some  notable  religious  or  moral  theory,  or  a  bitterly 
fought  political  issue,  is  sure  of  making  an  impression. 
Those  on  his  side  are  alert  to  note  confirmation,  or  gain  new 
inspiration.  Those  on  the  other  will  give  their  best  atten- 
tion in  order  to  pick  flaws.  Even  when  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
cause  is  lacking,  the  fame  or  notoriety  of  the  speaker 
arouses  interest  and  curiosity.  A  noted  after-dinner  speaker 
like  Chauncey  M.  Depew  makes  a  good  impression  whether 
or  not  he  says  much  worth  hearing.  Many  people  take  it 
for  granted  that  he  does.  An  impostor  who  has  been  dis- 
credited by  most  thoughtful,  just  persons  is  listened  to  with 
eagerness  because  people  want  to  know  what  kind  of  man 
this  is  who  can  "lie  like  a  gentleman"  and  set  continents 
agog. 

One  of  the  personal  qualities  most  influential  in  making 
people  famous  is  also  the  most  potent  before  an  audience. 
Personal  magnetism  is  an  inherent  quality.  Some  people 
have  it  from  childhood.  They  are  the  ones  who  can  lead 
armies  to  certain  death,  sway  multitudes  against  all  pre- 
vious intentions,  or  inspire  countless  souls  to  high  endeavor. 

But  magnetism  sometimes  arises  in  those  not  so  gifted. 
It  sometimes  results,  for  an  audience,  from  the  manifest 
interest  and  feeling  of  the  speaker.  The  inspector  of  un- 
graded classes  in  a  large  city  school  system  recently  found 
herself  before  an  audience  of  representative  men  and  women 
of  culture  and  influence.  She  thought,  "Here  is  an  oppor- 
tunity to  present,  where  it  may  do  good,  the  duty  of  the 
community  to  protect  society  from  the  defective  human 
beings  in  our  midst."  This  thought  inspired  her  to  such 


14  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

a  degree  that,  plain  and  matter-of-fact  as  she  appeared  in 
the  beginning,  she  exerted  a  marvelous  power  over  a  body 
of  people  little  accustomed  to  give  way  to  enthusiasm.  Be- 
fore a  like  audience,  in  New  York,  a  young  Chinaman 
spoke,  following  a  learned  college  professor,  on  the  recent 
revolution  in  China.  His  interest,  understanding,  and  vital 
desire  to  give  an  alien  people  the  right  view,  fired  him  so 
that  he  exercised  magnetic  power,  and  electrified  the  people 
whom  the  good  professor  had  nearly  put  to  sleep.  A  few 
years  ago,  during  the  progress  of  a  shirtwaist  workers' 
strike,  a  meeting  in  the  interests  of  the  Consumers'  League 
was  held  in  Cooper  Union  before  a  mixed  gathering.  A 
simple  working  girl,  small,  insignificant  in  appearance,  ill- 
dressed,  told  the  story  of  how  the  strike  started.  Her  un- 
affected air  of  truthfulness,  her  earnestness,  her  absolute 
belief  in  the  cause  she  presented,  furnished  the  power  that 
held  her  hearers.  As  a  common  bit  of  metal  may  become 
magnetized,  so  a  plain  personality  may  become  inspired  by 
a  great  purpose. 

Because  the  body  is  the  temple  of  the  soul  it  aids  in  the 
expression  of  the  soul.  The  entire  body  aids  in  exerting  the 
power  of  personality.  The  attitude  itself  affects  the  audi- 
ence. Self-confidence,  expressed  by  the  bearing,  prepos- 
sesses the  hearers.  Tenseness  reveals  interest  and  enthusi- 
asm. Animation  arouses  the  hearer  from  lethargy.  Move- 
ments are  sometimes  more  effective  than  a  quiet  poise.  The 
temperament  is  often  revealed  by  the  use  of  the  hands.  We 
shall  see  later  how  expressive  the  hands  may  be. 

The  human  eye  is  said  to  be  the  most  powerful,  compel- 
ling bodily  organ,  in  gaining  control  over  other  beings.  Pro- 
fessional hypnotists,  who  generally  have  sharp,  dark  eyes, 
obtain  control  over  their  subjects  by  gazing  steadily  at 
them.  A  person,  by  fixing  his  gaze  on  another,  can  within 


INTRODUCTION  15 

a  few  seconds  force  the  latter  to  look  at  him  involuntarily. 
He  can,  by  the  same  means,  force  a  guilty  person  to  lower 
his  eyes  or  to  show  unmistakable  signs  of  confession,  or  one 
ill  at  ease  to  break  down  completely. 

Someone  has  called  the  eyes  the  windows  of  the  soul. 
Certainly  through  them  character  and  disposition  are  re- 
vealed. Mildness,  obstinacy,  or  fierceness  is  shown  at  a 
glance.  Feelings  are  shown  so  quickly  and  so  involuntarily 
that  they  cannot  be  hidden.  Mirth,  pleasure,  sadness,  fear, 
anger,  are  all  expressed  by  the  eyes.  Love  and  hate  shine 
from  them.  The  physical  and  mental  states,  too,  are  shown. 
The  dull  eye  may  indicate  illness  or  stupidity.  The  bril- 
liant one  denotes  clear  intellect,  keen  wit,  and  quick  mental 
processes.  A  fixed  or  wild  one  may  be  the  sign  of  insanity. 
On  the  whole,  no  other  organ  is  so  expressive  as  the  eye. 

Since  the  voice  is  the  medium  by  which  the  thoughts  of 
the  speaker  reach  the  brain  of  the  hearer,  it  is  most  im- 
portant as  a  means  of  communication.  The  mere  sound  of 
the  voice  forces  attention.  Everyone  will  start  at  a  sudden 
cry  or  even  an  unexpected  remark  in  a  silent  room.  Many 
persons  cannot  do  mental  work  in  a  room  where  others  are 
talking,  because  the  sound  of  the  voice  compels  attention. 
In  nature  the  voice  is  flexible  and  vibrant,  possessing  wide 
range  and  a  sympathetic  quality.  When  pleasing  in  sound, 
as  a  well-trained  voice  used  in  natural  tones  always  is,  it 
attracts,  soothes,  or  arouses.  A  speaker  with  a  good  voice 
can  command  his  hearers  from  start  to  finish. 

Through  the  exercise  of  his  own  personality,  then,  the 
speaker  can  produce  effects.  He  has  the  inspiration  of  his 
belief,  his  feelings,  his  mood,  and  the  aid  of  a  flexible  instru- 
ment, the  human  body,  to  use  at  will.  Before  him  is  the  ma- 
terial on  which  to  work,  in  the  form  of  other  human  beings 
with  responsive  personalities,  waiting  for  the  impression. 


16  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

We  sometimes  hear  people  say  that  oratory  is  a  lost  art. 
It  is  certainly  true  that  we  do  not  hear  of  great  speeches  in 
Congress  so  frequently  as  did  our  grandfathers,  but  notable 
and  influential  speeches  are  still  made,  sometimes  even  in 
Congress,  and  more  often  at  large  dinners  in  celebration  of 
some  anniversary,  or  at  great  conventions.  Undoubtedly 
the  wide  prevalence  of  newspapers  and  magazines  as 
vehicles  for  communicating  information  has  decreased  the 
tendency  to  devote  energy  to  the  making  of  long  speeches, 
which  can  be  heard  by  but  a  few.  On  the  whole,  however, 
it  is  probable  that  more  people  study  and  practice  public 
speaking  now  than  ever  before. 

Conversation,  as  well  as  the  art  of  letter-writing,  seems 
on  the  wane.  Have  you  ever  noticed  the  inanity  of  our 
talk,  not  only  that  of  schoolgirls  but  also  that  of  able  men 
and  women?  Most  people  apparently  find  it  impossible  to 
begin  a  conversation  without  a  remark  about  the  weather. 
Each  seems  interested  only  in  circumstances  concerning 
himself.  If  a  speaker  or  a  play  or  an  art  exhibition  is  men- 
tioned it  is  only  to  say,  "Have  you  seen  The  Man  of  the 
Hour?"  or  "Did  you  go  to  hear  Mrs.  Pankhurst?"  "Oh, 
you  missed  it.  It  was  fine."  There  is  seldom  any  discussion 
of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  play  or  address,  or  of  its 
significance  from  an  artistic  or  sociologic  point  of  view. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  people  who  find  themselves  so  poor 
in  expression  do  not  trust  themselves  to  talk  to  an  audience, 
but  "read  papers"?  Not  only  embarrassed  students,  and 
club  women  anxious  to  set  forth  some  newly  acquired 
knowledge,  resort  to  the  use  of  the  type-written  page,  but 
speakers  invited  for  special  occasions  however  informal, 
men  asked  to  address  conventions,  and  even  clergymen, 
have  fallen  under  the  spell.  Think  of  a  man,  prominent  in 
the  life  of  a  great  city,  reading  in  a  halting  manner  a  paper 


INTRODUCTION  17 

to  the  graduates  of  a  college,  of  which  he  is  a  trustee,  or  a 
professor  of  elocution  reading  a  paper  on  oral  expression,  or 
a  lecturer  who  has  used  the  same  material  a  hundred  times, 
confining  himself  closely  to  the  sheets  before  him! 

WHY  SPEAKING  Is  PREFERABLE  TO  READING 

The  question  may  be  asked,  why  not  read?  We  are  then 
sure  of  presenting  our  thoughts  fully  and  in  an  orderly  man- 
ner. There  is  such  an  advantage.  But  we  can  train  our- 
selves to  do  this  without  reading.  In  reading  what  we  have 
to  say  we  neglect  many  aids  to  effective  presentation.  In 
the  first  place,  we  often  lose  the  interest  of  the  audience. 
A  prominent  schoolman  recently  made  the  after-dinner  ad- 
dress at  a  convention  banquet  of  teachers.  As  he  read  his 
carefully  prepared  paper  the  guests  yawned  and  tried  in 
vain  to  follow  his  thoughts.  Many  people  do  not  like  to 
hear  others  read.  There  are  instances  in  which  ministers 
who  read  their  sermons  have  been  turned  away  for  those 
of  less  merit  and  ability  who  did  not.  Members  of  clubs 
tire  of  the  constant  succession  of  papers,  and  eagerly  wel- 
come someone  who  "just  gets  up  and  talks."  One  who 
makes  it  a  rule  never  to  "read  a  paper"  anywhere  is  often 
rewarded  by  having  the  long-suffering  auditors  say,  "It  was 
so  much  more  interesting  because  you  talked." 

Another  reason  for  the  failure  to  arouse  interest  is  that 
in  reading  in  the  ordinary  way  much  of  the  possible  effect 
is  lost  by  the  close  attention  to  the  page.  This  gives  an 
impression  of  unfamiliarity  with  the  subject.  Whatever 
personal  enthusiasm  the  author  has,  fails  to  reach  the  audi- 
ence. His  magnetic  power  is  held  in  check  as  if  it  were  a 
dangerous,  instead  of  a  most  valuable  ally.  The  eye,  so 
potent  with  an  audience,  is  kept  directed  toward  the  page, 


18  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

so  that  it  not  only  is  prevented  from  exercising  its  natural 
control,  but  actually,  by  the  lowered  lids,  decreases  the 
effect  of  the  speaker's  personality.  The  voice  is  likely  to 
become  unnatural  and  monotonous.  The  person  who  reads 
as  he  talks  is  very  rare.  There  is  a  tendency  to  change 
completely  both  voice  and  manner.  The  bearing  of  the 
body  is  less  natural  and  impressive,  and  the  gestures  are 
either  omitted  or  greatly  hampered.  Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley 
tells  of  a  meeting  in  London,  in  memory  of  President  Gar- 
field,  at  which  two  Americans  spoke.  James  Russell  Lowell 
read  a  polished  speech,  which  left  the  audience  unmoved. 
But  Bishop  Simpson,  in  a  speech  apparently  extemporary, 
produced  a  marvelous  effect.  The  content  of  his  speech  was 
no  more  valuable.  The  reason  for  his  success  was  that  he 
was  able  to  use  his  powers  to  the  utmost. 

Dependence  on  a  few  sheets  of  paper  sometimes  causes 
embarrassing  situations.  A  woman  reading  a  paper  on  the 
laboratory  method  in  English  found  that,  through  misplac- 
ing the  sheets,  she  had  left  out  the  most  important  part.  A 
lecturer  once  dropped  his  manuscript  to  the  floor  as  he 
stepped  forward  on  the  platform,  and  the  audience  had  to 
wait  while  the  agonized,  perspiring  victim  rearranged  the 
sheets.  A  well-known  clergyman,  advanced  in  years,  ap- 
peared before  the  flock  of  which  he  was  still  nominally  the 
pastor,  to  read  a  sermon.  The  pages  were  confused.  After 
vainly  thumbing  them  to  restore  order,  he  turned  to  his 
assistant,  virtually  his  successor,  for  aid.  Even  after  the 
pages  had  been  arranged,  he  repeated  a  considerable  por- 
tion. Another  preacher  went  as  an  exchange  to  a  pulpit  of 
a  denomination  which  practiced  infant  baptism.  In  the 
midst  of  the  sermon,  before  he  saw  what  was  coming,  he 
thundered  out  a  denunciation  of  the  church's  belief.  He 
stopped,  and  assured  the  congregation  that  he  had  not  re- 


INTRODUCTION  19 

membered  that  passage  in  the  sermon  when  he  selected  it. 
One  often  needs  to  change  the  current  of  the  discourse, 
or  at  least  to  modify  the  expression,  for  no  one  can  be  ab- 
solutely sure  of  the  nature  of  an  audience  he  has  not  seen. 

Why  should  we  neglect,  as  so  many  of  us  do,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  so  useful  and  necessary  a  form  of  expression  as 
speech?  We  have  seen  that  it  is  the  most  natural  and  the 
easiest  form.  It  is  always  in  demand,  by  rich  and  poor, 
learned  and  ignorant,  and  is  always  available.  It  is  the 
most  effective  and  the  most  influential.  Moreover,  there 
are  great  rewards  for  its  skillful  use,  not  only  in  personal 
satisfaction  in  the  mastery  of  a  fine  tool,  but  in  apprecia- 
tion and  increased  power,  whatever  one's  work  or  station. 

But  some  will  say,  "I  can't."  There  should  be  no  such 
word  as  can't  in  the  student's  vocabulary.  What  has  been 
done  can  be  done  again.  You  have  all  heard  how  Demos- 
thenes put  pebbles  in  his  mouth  so  that  he  might  overcome 
a  defect  in  speech.  Your  chief  defect  is  that  you  say  "I 
can't,  I  know  I  can't.  I  never  have."  Don't  be  alarmed  if 
you  do  quake  a  little.  Some  experienced  preachers  tremble, 
but  they  go  ahead  and  win  fame  and  honor.  A  few  years 
ago  there  was  in  one  school  a  girl  who  had  always  been  un- 
able to  express  herself  when  on  her  feet.  She  became  con- 
fused in  her  thought.  After  she  had  had  some  practice  in 
classifying  and  arranging  material,  and  had  talked  before 
her  own  class  on  some  subjects  in  connection  with  the  work, 
she  consented  to  talk  for  two  or  three  minutes  before  the 
whole  school  of  five  or  six  hundred  during  the  morning 
exercises.  She  was  brilliantly  successful,  and  realized  that 
she  had  formerly  been  held  down  by  the  idea  that  she  could 
not  think  before  an  audience.  Many  people  hesitate  for 
years  to  rise  in  a  public  meeting  of  any  kind  to  say  a  few 


20  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

words,  and  envy  those  who  can.  A  woman  of  middle  age 
never  said  a  word  under  such  circumstances  until,  during  a 
revival,  she  was  aroused  out  of  self-consciousness.  She  has 
spoken  in  weekly  prayer  meetings  regularly  ever  since.  A 
young  man  steadily  refused  for  several  years  to  conduct  a 
small  meeting  in  a  young  people's  organization.  Finally  he 
yielded  to  persuasion  and  the  assertion  that  he  could  if  he 
thought  so.  He  proved  an  exceptionally  good  leader  for 
that  kind  of  meeting,  and  has  led  many  times  since.  It  is 
the  will  to  do  that  counts. 


PART  I 
THE  CONDITIONS  OF  GOOD  SPEAKING 


PROPERTY  OF 
lEHKIttf  OF  DMKIATIC  ART 

CHAPTER   II 
PREPARATION 

ALTHOUGH  Topsy  said  that  she  just  "growed,"  the  same 
statement  could  be  made  of  few  things.  Each  product  is 
the  result  of  the  working  of  a  combination  of  forces  or  acts, 
some  unseen,  but  none  the  less  important  as  factors.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  arts.  Take,  for  example,  the  mak- 
ing of  a  fine  piece  of  china.  The  maker  must  have,  in  the 
first  place,  an  aim,  so  that  he  will  know  whether  he  is  to 
produce  a  pitcher  or  a  tea-cup,  or  an  ornament  of  delicate 
design. 

Then  he  must  have  suitable  material,  of  the  right  kind 
and  in  sufficient  quantity.  He  must  decide  just  what 
form  the  finished  piece  is  to  have,  so  that  he  will  know 
how  to  shape  it  harmoniously.  The  place  in  which  he 
works  must  be  adapted  to  his  needs,  as  to  light  and  space. 
He  needs  a  board  and  a  few  tools,  but  most  of  all  he  should 
know  how  to  use  what  nature  has  given  him.  His  hands 
have  been  trained  for  their  work,  so  that  a  swift,  sure 
movement  as  the  lathe  turns  works  wonders.  Above  all, 
his  mind  must  control  and  direct  his  movements.  The 
greatest  care  is  to  be  taken,  not  only  in  the  forming,  but 
in  the  finishing. 

So  it  is  with  the  art  of  speaking.  The  success  and  the 
value  of  the  effort  are  wholly  dependent  on  the  conditions 
attending  the  individual  product.  The  greatest  and  best  do 
not  scorn  preparation,  but  count  it  as  the  major  part.  Those 

23 


24  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

of  us  who  are  just  learning  how  to  speak  well  may,  then, 
profit  greatly  by  it. 

We  need  to  know,  at  the  outset,  what  we  are  aiming  to 
accomplish.  Are  we  called  upon  to  amuse  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, to  give  information  about  some  subject  that  is  not 
clear  to  the  rest  of  the  class  or  the  family,  to  explain  in 
detail  a  difficult  process,  to  express  our  opinions  for  the 
guidance  of  others,  or  to  convince  others  that  we  are  right 
in  wishing  to  follow  a  certain  line  of  action? 

The  circumstances  of  the  talk  may  have  much  to  do  with 
the  purpose  of  it.  You  may  be  asked  to  introduce  a  speaker 
at  some  meeting  in  school.  Of  course  you  will  not  have 
the  burden  of  presenting  the  main  subject  of  the  evening, 
nor  will  you  plan  to  take  up  most  of  the  time.  The  mayor 
of  a  city  was  recently  called  on  to  welcome  an  assembly 
of  men  who  had  come  to  his  city  to  discuss  the  social  up- 
lift through  religion.  He  took  forty  minutes  to  advocate 
socialism  as  a  political  force,  and  to  attack  the  principles 
for  which  his  hearers  stood.  The  nature  of  the  audience 
may  be  such  that  you  must  consider  it  as  well  as  the  occa- 
sion in  deciding  what  your  aim  shall  be.  Must  you  soothe, 
or  arouse  and  inspire?  Must  you  amuse  or  teach? 

CHOICE  OP  SUBJECT 

A  very  important  step  in  the  preparation  is  the  determi- 
ning of  the  subject.  On  the  selection  of  a  suitable  one  may 
depend  everything.  It  must  be  considered  in  relation  to 
the  occasion,  the  audience,  and  the  speaker  himself. 

There  are  some  times  when,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  the  subject  is  the  result  of  the  previous  talk,  among 
a  few  congenial  people,  or  at  a  business  meeting.  But  on 
some  occasions  a  man  or  woman  may  be  asked  to  speak 


PREPARATION  25 

without  any  specific  limitation.  One  of  these  is  the  com- 
memoration. Often  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  or  death 
of  some  noted  person  is  celebrated.  A  pupil  may  be  called 
on  to  give  a  short  talk  in  a  school  society,  or  in  exercises 
held  on  a  national  anniversary,  or  the  centenary  of  some 
writer  or  scientist.  Most  large  organizations  observe  such 
memorial  days.  Anyone  in  the  town  who  can  talk  is  likely 
to  be  called  on  to  speak.  Events,  too,  are  commemorated. 
The  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  a  land,  a  process,  or 
a  substance,  or  the  winning  of  a  battle,  or  the  beginning  of 
statehood,  may  be  observed  by  assemblages  large  and 
small.  Lincoln  delivered  his  famous  Gettysburg  address 
on  such  an  occasion.  Webster  is  remembered  as  an  ora- 
tor from  such  addresses  as  that  at  Bunker  Hill.  The  found- 
ing of  a  college  or  the  dedication  of  a  church  is  of  sufficient 
importance  to  call  for  a  celebration.  There  is  no  educated 
person,  whatever  his  occupation,  but  is  likely  to  be  called 
on  for  a  talk  on  some  such  occasion. 

The  choice  of  a  subject  for  a  commemoration  is  espe- 
cially difficult,  because  there  seems  to  be  no  new  ma- 
terial. However,  some  have  solved  the  difficulty  by  show- 
ing some  little-known  or  understood  relation  between  the 
man  or  event  and  the  times.  Others  have  drawn  parallels 
or  contrasts.  Many  have  applied  to  present  conditions 
some  principle  advocated  by  the  man  or  involved  in  the 
event.  Thus  the  anniversary  observance  has  been  made  a 
means  of  inspiration. 

One  of  the  most  important  purposes  for  which  people 
come  together  is  concerned,  not  with  the  past,  but  with  the 
present.  Various  organizations  carry  on  their  work  partly 
through  meetings  and  conventions.  Part  of  the  program 
is  of  a  business  nature.  Officers  must  be  chosen,  reports  re- 
ceived, policies  outlined.  Perhaps  some  of  the  reports 


26  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

must  be  written;  but  the  copy  is  always  filed  and  often 
printed  for  distribution.  How  glad  everyone  would  be 
if  all  who  make  reports  would,  instead  of  droning  out 
statistics,  give  live,  interesting  talks,  emphasizing  impor- 
tant features  of  the  work.  In  deciding  policies,  there 
should  be  a  few  prepared  speeches  by  those  who  have 
studied  the  phases  of  the  work,  and  all  competent  should 
take  part  in  the  open  discussion.  Here  whoever  opens  or 
joins  in  the  discussion  must  decide  what  subject  and  what 
phase  of  it  to  take  up.  A  wrong  speech  may  endanger  the 
success  of  a  movement  planned  for  many  years,  or  it  may 
launch  a  new  one.  In  connection  with  such  meetings,  ses- 
sions are  often  held  at  which  outsiders  speak  on  more 
general  subjects.  These  persons  would  not,  probably,  talk 
on  manufacturing  to  ministers,  or  on  physics  to  librarians, 
but  are  they  always  alive  to  the  possibility  of  broadening 
the  field  of  vision,  of  arousing  intelligent  bodies  of  people 
to  new  endeavors,  to  the  highest  use  of  their  collective  in- 
fluence? Here,  then,  a  comparative  freedom  in  choice  of 
subject  should  be  well  used. 

Meetings  are  often  held,  not  to  honor  the  past  or  ar- 
range for  the  present,  but  to  sway  sentiment  for  the  future. 
Political  mass-meetings  have  been  a  feature  of  our  entire 
national  history.  The  women  working  for  suffrage  or  equal 
pay,  the  laboring  people  struggling  for  better  conditions,  the 
social  workers  arousing  the  world  to  a  conception  of  the 
need  and  the  possibilities  of  concerted  effort,  all  use  this 
method  of  appeal.  The  girl  striker,  the  officers  of  the 
woman's  club,  the  editor,  the  teacher,  the  business  man, 
all  are  called  to  the  platform  with  the  man  who  earns 
his  living  by  public  speaking.  And  sometimes  the  hum- 
ble laborer  makes  the  greatest  impression,  because  he 
speaks  of  the  things  nearest  him. 


PREPARATION  27 

But  the  most  frequent  calls  come  on  the  unimportant, 
unforeseen  occasions,  or  the  purely  social  ones.  And  these 
are  the  hardest  to  answer.  The  school-boy  or  girl,  or  an 
older  person,  is  elected  to  a  small  office  in  an  organiza- 
tion, and  is  called  on  to  make  a  speech.  How  inane  many 
such  responses  are!  The  good  woman  in  the  church  feels 
that  she  ought  to  take  part  in  the  devotional  meetings, 
but  often  fails  to  say  anything  new  or  helpful,  based  on 
her  own  experience.  The  visitor  to  a  school  or  Sunday- 
school  he  formerly  attended  is  sure  to  be  asked  to  face 
an  expectant  audience.  He  has  five  minutes,  in  which  he 
may  leave  an  impression  of  incompetency  or  in  which  he 
may  utter  stirring  words  that  leave  an  influence  on  the 
life  of  a  pupil.  If  a  well-known  speaker  comes  to  the  town, 
somebody  must  introduce  him.  Installations  of  all  kinds 
make  it  necessary  for  the  people  asked  to  "grace  the  oc- 
casion by  a  few  words"  to  try  to  avoid  saying  "the  usual 
thing."  Every  organization,  no  matter  how  small  or  un- 
important, has  luncheons  or  dinners,  at  which  the  officers 
are  expected  to  speak.  Anybody  who  has  attracted  public 
attention  is  besieged  with  requests  to  give  an  address  at 
some  banquet.  He  is  expected  to  keep  the  audience  flat- 
tered and  amused,  and  to  say  something  that  will  look  well 
in  the  paper.  It  will  not  do  to  say  the  same  things,  and 
crack  the  same  jokes,  at  more  than  twenty  such  dinners 
in  one  winter.  The  speaker  who  can  fulfil  all  the  require- 
ments, and  can  say  something  of  real  benefit  to  his  hearers, 
deserves  the  palm. 

Often  the  occasion  determines  the  nature  of  the  audience, 
but  not  always.  All  classes  of  people  attend  some  public 
meetings.  The  subject  must,  first,  be  interesting  to  the 
people  likely  to  gather.  Is  their  general  interest  of  a  social, 
business,  or  religious  nature?  Are  they  serious-minded  or 


28  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  opposite?  Are  they  cultured  or  ignorant?  All  these 
possibilities  must  be  considered.  Yet  they  cannot  govern 
the  choice  absolutely.  Edward  Howard  Griggs  delivered 
to  an  audience  in  Cooper  Union,  made  up  of  the  people  of 
the  lower  East  Side,  of  men  with  grimy  hands  and  sales- 
girls weary  with  the  long  day,  a  lecture  on  Carlyle  that 
included  a  survey  of  German  philosophy.  The  hall  was 
crowded  with  eager  people.  In  the  same  place  was  deliv- 
ered a  lecture  on  the  Idea  of  Impersonal  Immortality. 
It  was  what  the  people  wanted. 

The  subject  should  not  be  too  familiar  to  the  members 
of  the  audience.  Outside  of  the  conventions  of  a  profes- 
sional nature,  the  physician  does  not  want  to  hear  about 
medicine.  The  business  man  likes  to  get  away  from  the 
routine  of  his  daily  life.  None  of  us  cares  to  hear  a  thing 
already  too  well  known  by  personal  experience  or  through 
the  public  press.  Inside  information  about  something  little 
understood,  the  presentation  of  a  new  and  inspiring  idea, 
the  story  of  something  alive  with  the  human  element,  we 
all  want  to  hear. 

Yet  the  subject  should  be  one  that  the  hearers  are  likely 
to  understand.  A  child  has  a  limited  power  of  compre- 
hending what  the  man  before  him  is  talking  about.  An 
unlettered  person  is  not  likely  to  understand  any  talk  that 
can  be  given  on  Professor  James'  Pragmatic  Theory,  though 
he  may  be  entirely  capable  of  following  a  good  explanation 
of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party.  Some  technical 
knowledge  might  be  necessary  to  enable  one  to  grasp  the 
theory  of  electricity  last  propounded. 

The  speaker  may  not  always  see  his  hearers  before- 
hand, but  he  at  least  knows  his  own  fitness  fairly  well. 
He  is  not  likely  to  interest  a  body  of  strange  people  in 
something  he  cares  nothing  about.  Nor  can  he  make  clear 


PREPARATION  29 

something  that  he  does  not  understand  or  only  half  knows. 
If  he  is  unable  to  find  material  to  supply  his  lack,  he  had 
better  take  another  topic.  Then,  too,  he  must  consider 
whether  he  is  capable  of  treating  the  subject  adequately. 
A  school-boy  may  find  it  necessary  to  avoid  a  topic  that 
a  professional  man  or  an  experienced  speaker  could  treat 
with  ease. 

After  the  general  subject  is  selected,  it  must  be  narrowed. 
A  man  who  is  planning  to  write  a  series  of  books  may 
take  a  broad  subject.  For  a  single  volume  he  must  se- 
lect some  phase  of  it.  Should  he  be  asked  to  contribute 
a  magazine  article,  he  must  narrow  his  treatment  still 
more.  A  paragraph  in  a  daily  paper  calls  for  the  discus- 
sion of  some  one  point.  So,  too,  a  speaker  has  to  decide 
on  his  topic.  Should  he  deliver  a  course  of  lectures  during 
a  college  year,  he  might  give  a  general  survey  of  the  litera- 
ture of  a  nation.  If  asked  to  speak  six  times,  he  might 
confine  his  remarks  to  the  poetry  of  one  century.  An 
evening  hour  could  be  spent  in  the  discussion  of  the  work 
of  a  single  poet.  A  five-minute  talk  before  a  school  might 
point  the  lesson  of  Burns's  failure  in  life.  A  student  could 
show  the  class,  in  less  time,  the  lack  of  "a  single  aim"  on 
the  part  of  Burns. 

The  title  sometimes  needs  as  much  attention  as  the 
subject  itself.  Sensationalism  never  pays,  but  a  bright, 
catchy  title  often  arouses  interest.  "The  American  In- 
famy" awakes  curiosity.  "Farthest  North"  and  "Swinging 
Round  the  Circle"  are  unusual  and  suggestive.  The  title 
should,  if  explanatory,  clearly  limit  the  subject.  "The 
Work  of  Morris  for  the  Colonial  Government"  cannot  be 
a  sketch  of  Morris's  life.  "The  Mission  of  New  Japan"  is 
not  a  history  of  the  country.  "A  Picture  I  Like"  cannot 
be  an  account  of  all  the  treasures  in  the  museum.  If  you 


30  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

tell  an  anecdote,  you  do  not  want  to  "give  away"  the 
point  by  the  title.  Both  interest  and  clearness,  then,  may 
depend  on  the  few  words  that  indicate  the  train  of  your 
thought. 

Exercise  I. 

Criticize  the  following  subjects,  indicating  reasons: 

Cheerfulness.  Radio-activity. 

Lincoln  as  a  story-teller.  The  ladies. 

Suffrage.  The  discovery  of  America. 

Infant  baptism.  Vacation  schools. 

Indians.  A  pioneer. 

Exercise  II. 

Bring  to  class  five  subjects  that  you  think  people  in  your 
town  might  have  reason  to  use  in  speaking  in  public. 

State  the  probable  occasion  on  which  each  would  be  suit- 
able. 

Give  the  time  each  should  occupy. 

Exercise  III. 

Narrow  or  limit  the  following  general  subjects,  stating 
probable  occasion  and  time  for  discussion  of  various  phases: 

Woman  suffrage.  The  tariff. 
The  government  of  the  United    Tuberculosis. 

States.  War. 

Commerce.  James  Russell  Lowell. 

Education.  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Travel.  The  Anti-Saloon  League. 

Libraries.  Harvard  University. 

City  or  country  life.  Congestion  in  cities. 

Newspapers.  Village  improvement. 

Printing.  Porto  Rico, 


PREPARATION  31 

Exercise  IV. 

Bring  to  class  four  subjects,  suitable  for  talks  of  not  more 
than  five  minutes,  on  which  you  would  like  someone  to 
speak  before  the  class  or  school. 

GATHERING  MATERIAL 

The  chief  requirement  for  a  speaker,  whatever  his  sub- 
ject, is  that  he  shall  have  something  worth  while  to  say 
about  it.  He  who  has  that  is  not  greatly  troubled  by 
the  people  looking  at  him,  but  is  concerned  with  giving 
them  that  which  he  has  to  give.  A  person  telling  of  his 
marvelous  escape  does  not  lack  for  words,  nor  does  a 
voluble  woman  expressing  her  indignation  over  being 
cheated  at  the  dry-goods  store.  The  convert  in  a  city 
mission  has  a  story  to  tell  of  a  life  made  useful,  that  is 
of  greater  value  than  the  precepts  of  many  a  clergyman. 

But  we  do  not  all  have  thrilling  experiences  to  tell.  We 
may  need  to  prepare  ourselves.  Webster  once  said,  "No 
man  not  inspired  can  make  a  good  speech  without  prepara- 
tion." He  said  with  regard  to  his  reply  to  Hayne  that,  al- 
though he  did  not  take  notes  and  study  on  it,  he  was  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  subject  of  debate,  from  having 
made  preparation  on  it  for  a  totally  different  purpose  than 
making  that  speech.  Emerson  summed  up  in  two  sen- 
tences his  own  habit  of  preparation.  "The  chief  thing  I 
aim  at  is  to  master  my  subject.  Then  I  earnestly  try  to 
get  the  audience  to  think  as  I  do." 

The  second  step  in  the  preparation  for  a  public  talk 
is  the  gathering  of  material.  This  may  be  done  from 
various  sources.  The  most  obvious  is  experience.  If  you 
have  never  made  a  cake,  or  a  dress,  or  a  chair,  it  would  not 
be  advisable  for  you  to  try  to  tell  other  people  how  to  do 


32  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

so.  Mr.  Cook's  narrative  of  a  journey  to  the  pole  has 
no  value  except  as  a  curiosity.  That  of  Commander 
Peary  is  vivid  with  his  own  part  in  it.  The  survivors  of 
the  Triangle  Company  fire  and  those  of  the  Titanic's  disas- 
ter can  tell  as  no  one  else  can  the  horrors  of  those  events. 

The  same  people  can  also  give  information  as  to  the 
management  of  affairs  at  the  time,  based  on  what  they 
saw.  They  know  from  observation  how  people  acted,  what 
was  done  to  prevent  panic,  what  means  of  safety  were 
lacking.  So  a  traveler  learns,  as  he  goes  about,  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  people,  though  he  does  not  neces- 
sarily live  in  an  Indian  hut  or  take  part  in  a  war-dance.  A 
broader  knowledge  is,  of  course,  gained  by  what  we  see; 
a  more  intensive  by  what  we  do  and  feel. 

Sometimes  we  profit  by  the  lives  or  observation  of  others 
who  have  been  in  different  situations  or  seen  more  varied 
sights.  They  tell  us  how  affairs  are  managed  in  some 
school  society,  or  how  trains  are  run,  or  how  some  diffi- 
culty has  been  overcome.  Most  of  us  know  people  in  dif- 
ferent stations  in  life,  of  varied  occupations,  and  of  a 
broad  range  of  knowledge.  They  are  often  willing  to  tell 
us  what  we  need  to  know  about  some  one  phase  of  the 
subject. 

Although  students  are  all  able  to  read,  it  sometimes 
appears  that  they  do  not  take  advantage  of  the  wealth 
of  information  in  print.  The  reliable  newspapers  usually 
have  valuable  material,  in  abundance,  on  current  topics. 
The  magazine  sections  of  some  newspapers  have  timely  ar- 
ticles on  many  subjects.  The  weekly  and  monthly  maga- 
zines are  rich  with  a  varied  store.  I  wonder  how  many 
of  you  know  that  every  good  library  contains,  not  only  a 
monthly  guide  to  the  articles  in  the  periodicals,  but  one  or 
two  cumulative  indexes,  such  as  Poole's,  which  list  ar- 


PREPARATION  33 

tides  by  subjects,  for  several  years.  The  use  of  these 
saves  much  time  and  reveals  the  hiding  place  of  material 
you  are  seeking.  Of  course  you  all  go  to  the  library  fre- 
quently to  consult  books.  But  can  you  always  find  the 
ones  you  want?  There  may  not  be  a  librarian  at  leisure 
to  help  you.  Books  are  arranged  on  the  shelves  by  sub- 
jects. Learn  how  to  use  the  card  catalog,  both  for  authors 
and  subjects.  Books  covering  a  variety  of  subjects  are 
listed  on  several  cards.  If  you  find  a  book  on  the  general 
subject,  be  sure  you  find  out  whether  it  has  anything  on 
the  special  phase  you  are  looking  up.  Most  volumes  are 
indexed;  but  teachers  have  often  given  pupils  books  for 
use  on  special  subjects,  only  to  have  the  girls  and  boys 
come  back,  saying,  "I  can't  find  anything  about  witchcraft 
here."  'This  book  hasn't  anything  in  it  about  what  you 
told  me  to  look  up."  Yet  it  was  there,  to  be  found  in  a 
moment  by  one  who  searched  intelligently.  Is  it  not  worth 
while  for  a  student  to  learn  how  to  use  his  tools?  Can 
you  not  cultivate,  as  so  many  have  done,  the  power  of 
finding  out  what  is  in  a  book,  without  reading  it  page  by 
page? 

The  matter  of  note-taking  is  important.  It  is  usually 
wise  to  think  out  the  general  divisions  you  are  likely  to 
treat,  so  as  to  know  what  to  look  for.  If  you  keep  the 
notes  likely  to  fall  under  the  various  phases  of  the  subject 
on  separate  cards  or  papers,  there  will  be  less  time  lost  in 
arranging.  For  large  subjects,  undoubtedly  the  best  way 
is  to  have  each  note  on  a  separate  sheet.  Small  penny 
pads  are  very  useful  for  this  purpose.  Each  sheet  should 
be  headed,  for  quick  classification,  with  the  abbreviation 
standing  for  the  division.  Then  the  separate  sheets  may 
be  easily  arranged,  and  shifted  until  the  desired  order  is 
obtained. 


34  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

For  a  short  talk,  a  simple  scheme  may  be  adopted. 
Take  a  large  sheet  of  paper.  Note,  as  they  occur  to  you, 
the  points  you  want  to  include.  Take,  for  example,  the 
ways  in  which  birds  are  protected.  You  will  have  some- 
thing like  this:- 

X   Claws.  High  nests. 

—  Flight.  —  Color. 

/    Game  laws.  /  Audubon  Society. 

/    Laws  against  killing  X  Beaks. 

birds  for  adornment.  —  Feathers. 

After  writing  down  these  points,  you  go  over  them  and 
check  the  ones  having  some  connection  by  a  mark. 

Those  marked  -  -  have  to  do  with  escape  from  harm. 
The  items  marked  X  show  means  of  attack  in  defense. 
Those  with  the  sign  /  refer  to  protection  provided  by  man. 
The  first  two  sets  will  come  under  protection  afforded  by 
nature  as  compared  with  that  afforded  by  man.  One 
point  is  left  unmarked.  Does  that,  with  other  material, 
form  a  division,  conditions  of  life,  or  does  it,  as  the  result 
of  instinct,  belong  under  the  provisions  of  nature  for  avoid- 
ance of  danger? 

Often,  you  will  have  so  much  material,  after  note-taking, 
that  it  cannot  all  be  used.  It  will  be  necessary  to  select 
the  material  most  pertinent,  or  to  limit  the  subject  more 
narrowly.  Sometimes  the  general  divisions  you  had  in 
mind  at  the  start  will  be  considerably  changed.  Some 
may  be  omitted,  others  added;  the  expression  of  all  may 
be  changed. 

OUTLINING 

The  power  of  classification  involved  in  arranging  scat- 
tered material  to  form  a  clear,  logical  outline  is  one  most 


PREPARATION  35 

valuable  to  a  student.  It  aids  in  the  development  of  clear 
thinking  and  orderly  habits  of  mind.  It  trains  the  judg- 
ment in  comparing  and  selecting.  Moreover,  the  outlining 
of  what  one  is  to  say  makes  possible  good  expression.  Con- 
fusion gives  way  to  clearness.  A  subject  difficult  to  follow 
becomes  easy  to  understand.  Wandering,  unconnected 
ideas  are  gathered  into  a  unified  whole.  The  subject  is 
treated  fully  instead  of  inadequately.  On  the  whole,  he 
who  has  mastered  the  methods  of  outlining  has  little  to 
fear  concerning  the  effective  presentation  of  his  subject- 
matter. 

There  are  three  important  bases  of  classification  for  the 
main  points  of  any  subject.  These  are  time,  or  the  chrono- 
logical order,  comparison,  often  resulting  in  contrast,  and 
the  association  of  ideas. 

In  using  the  time  basis  we  consider  the  facts  in  the  order 
of  their  happening,  as  in  a  narrative,  or  in  the  periods  of 
time  in  which  they  were  of  value.  The  historian  of  Amer- 
ica may  divide  his  work  into  the  periods  of  discovery  and 
exploration,  colonization,  revolution,  national  growth,  sec- 
tional dispute  and  war,  consolidation  and  expansion;  he 
has  taken  the  chronological  order  as  surely  as  though  he  had 
divided  it  into  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nine- 
teenth centuries,  as  we  often  treat  literature.  In  telling  how 
to  make  a  cake,  the  time  basis  is  likely  to  be  used.  We  may 
give  the  advantages  of  athletics  to  a  boy  during  his  school 
days  and  in  after  life. 

If  the  historian  prefers  to  use  comparison,  he  may  con- 
trast Virginia  and  Massachusetts  in  colonial  times.  The 
Revolutionary  War  may  be  compared  with  the  French 
Revolution.  We  may  consider  the  question  of  the  influence 
of  athletics  as  compared  to  that  of  school  societies. 

The  basis  of  association  of  ideas  is  often  hardest  to  un- 


36  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

derstand,  but  it  is  by  far  the  most  generally  used.  When 
we  think  of  one  phase  of  a  subject  we  naturally  think  of 
one  or  two  more.  The  most  common  classification,  much 
overworked,  is  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral.  The 
practical  suggests  the  theoretical.  The  historian  may 
decide  to  work  out  the  political,  religious,  social,  educa- 
tional, and  industrial  development  of  a  nation.  The  Board 
of  Education  may  find  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  effect 
of  athletics  on  the  school  and  on  the  individual  pupil,  or 
the  effect  on  the  boy's  health,  his  school  work,  and  his 
character. 

Both  the  subject  and  the  material  must  be  carefully  con- 
sidered in  deciding  what  basis  of  classification  to  use. 
Many  subjects  can  be  treated  by  any  one  of  the  three.  It 
is  best  to  make  trial  main  headings,  and  test  them  by  the 
following  requirements.  These  headings  must  be  coordi- 
nate. That  is,  (1)  they  must  have  the  same  relation  to 
the  general  subject,  in  order  to  preserve  unity.  (2)  They 
must  be  approximately  equal  in  rank,  as  officers  of  the 
same  rank  having  the  same  relation  to  their  chief.  (3) 
They  must  be  mutually  exclusive,  so  that  they  do  not  en- 
croach on  the  territory  of  others.  (4)  Taken  together, 
they  must  cover  the  ground,  as  patrols  do  their  beats.  This 
is  something  that  most  young  writers  fail  to  think  about, 
having  an  idea  they  have  done  well  if  half  or  two-thirds 
of  the  field  is  covered.  The  expression  of  these  points 
must  be  clear,  usually  in  sentence  form. 

Exercise  V. 

Write  main  headings  for  as  many  of  the  following  as  the 
instructor  directs,  trying  different  bases  until  you  find  the 
best. 

If  you  have  more  than  four  main  headings,  revise  by 


PREPARATION  37 

grouping  until  you  have  a  set  that  will  bear  criticism  ac- 
cording to  the  directions  above. 

1.  The  life  of  the  farmer. 

2.  The  characteristics  of  the  Chinaman. 

3.  The  making  of  a  photograph. 

4.  How  Lincoln  became  president. 

5.  A  modern  newspaper. 

6.  Our  trip  to  West  Point. 

7.  Our  new  city  hall. 

8.  The  tramp  I  saw  yesterday. 

9.  Why  this  town  should  have  a  new  railway  station. 

10.  The  century  1805-1905  in  transportation. 

11.  The  causes  of  the  Civil  War. 

12.  The  trials  of  the  immigrant. 

13.  The  metamorphosis  of  the  butterfly. 

14.  The  benefits  of  libraries. 

15.  The  city  board  of  health. 

16.  The  choice  of  a  president. 

17.  The  harvesting  of  the  wheat  crop. 

18.  A  polar  expedition. 

19.  Public  and  private  schools. 

20.  My  first  day  at  school. 

21.  The  game  of  baseball  between and  our  school. 

Exercise  VI. 

Select  three  subjects  that  you  think  could  be  treated  by 
main  headings  based  on  time. 

Select  three  subjects  that  could  be  treated  by  main  head- 
ings based  on  comparison. 

Select  three  subjects  that  could  be  developed  by  associa- 
tion of  ideas. 

Exercise  VII. 

Criticize  the  sets  of  main  headings  on  the  following  page. 
Which  set  is  best  for  each  subject?  Why  best?  Try  to 
write  better  sets  for  the  same  subjects. 


38  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

INDIAN  LIFE. 
a. 

I.  The  life  of  the  primitive  Indians. 
II.  The  life  of  the  Indiana  of  to-day, 
b. 

I.  Outdoor  Me. 
II.  Indoor  life. 
c. 

I.  Necessities. 

II.  Manner  of  spending  time. 
III.  Relations  with  others, 
d. 

I.  Babyhood. 
II.  Childhood. 

III.  On  the  war  trail. 

IV.  Later  life. 
e. 

I.  It  was  very  easy. 
II.  It  was  considered  cruel. 

USES  OF  THE  TELEPHONE. 
a. 

I.  Social. 
II.  Business, 
b. 

I.  It  is  useful  to  the  business  man. 
II.  The  professional  man  cannot  get  along  without  it. 
III.  The  housewife  finds  it  a  convenience. 
c. 

I.  People  use  it  hi  carrying  on  business. 
II.  They  often  have  occasion  to  use  it  socially. 
III.  They  find  it  valuable  hi  emergency, 
d. 

I.  We  use  the  telephone  hi  the  morning. 
II.  We  find  it  convenient  in  the  afternoon. 
III.  At  night  it  may  be  of  great  service. 


PREPARATION  39 

e. 

I.  Before  the  telephone  was  invented,  people  had  much  incon- 
venience in  communicating  with  each  other. 
II.  Now,  almost  everyone  finds  the  telephone  a  great  boon. 

After  the  main  headings  have  been  tested,  we  must  fill 
in  the  sub-headings.  These  must,  for  each  division,  con- 
form to  the  same  requirements  as  the  main  headings,  but 
need  not  be  on  the  same  basis.  For  instance,  if  the  basis 
time  is  used  for  the  main  headings,  that  of  the  association 
of  ideas  may  prove  necessary  for  the  sub-headings.  The 
historian  who  takes  each  century  in  order  may  trace  the 
development  of  the  various  institutions,  government,  re- 
ligion, etc.,  in  each  hundred  years.  The  most  frequent  mis- 
takes in  the  use  of  the  sub-headings  are  the  following.  In- 
version may  be  the  result  of  failure  to  coordinate  properly, 
so  that  a  main  head  is  where  a  sub-head  ought  to  be,  and 
a  point  really  subordinate  is  taking  the  proud  position  of 
its  superior.  Sometimes  a  sub-point  gets  lost,  and  is  found 
under  another  command,  where  it  is  very  much  out  of 
place,  and  likely  to  be  misunderstood.  Another  fault  that 
is  confusing  is  a  lack  of  harmony  and  uniformity  in  ex- 
pression. If  sentences,  phrases,  and  words  are  all  used 
to  denote  topics  of  the  same  rank,  it  is  difficult  to  see  the 
right  relations. 

Sub-headings  may  be  carried  down  as  far  as  there  is 
material.  There  should  always  be  at  least  two  of  the  same 
rank  under  each  heading  except  in  the  case  of  an  example, 
since  there  can  be  no  division  without  at  least  two  parts 
evident. 

Much  depends  on  the  arrangement,  the  order  of  treat- 
ment of  both  main  and  sub-headings.  Several  things  must 
be  considered.  Which  will  arouse  most  interest  at  the 


40  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

beginning?  Which  will  leave  the  best  impression  as  the 
last?  Which  will  make  the  best  climax?  How  can  the 
points  be  arranged  so  that  the  speaker  or  writer  can  pass 
most  easily  and  naturally  from  one  to  another?  The  de- 
cision must  depend  on  what  order  will  answer  most  needs. 


SPECIMEN  OUTLINES 
THE  LAWRENCE  STRIKE. 

There  are  few  who  have  not  been  interested  in  the  accounts, 
in  so  many  newspapers,  of  the  Lawrence  strike. 

I.  The  good  intentions  of  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  led 
to  the  great  strike  in  February. 

A.  The  state  legislature  reducing  the  number  of  working 
hours  for  mill  workers  from  56  to  54  hours  a  week. 

B.  The  wool  and  cotton  mill  owners  reducing  wages  accord- 
ingly. 

II.  Great  excitement  was  shown  by  all  parties. 

A.  400  workers  under  Ettor  stopping  work  at  first. 

1.  Rioting  in  streets. 

2.  Marching  in  parades. 

3.  Attempting  to  stop  all  work. 

B.  Governor  sending  militia  to  keep  order. 

1.  Exciting  the  strikers  all  the  more. 

2.  Causing  even  greater  trouble  for  a  while. 

III.  The  result  was  favorable  for  the  strikers. 

A.  Head  of  Arlington  Mills  announcing  raise  of  5  per  cent. 

B.  Strikers  regaining  former  positions. 

C.  Investigation  of  homes  of  workers  made. 

1.  Showing  bad  conditions 

a.  Unhealthful  houses. 

b.  Exorbitant  rents  charged  by  company 

2.  Resulting  in  efforts  to  better  conditions. 

Pupil's  outline. 


PREPARATION  41 

WHY  I  ENJOYED  THE  "SKETCH-BOOK." 

Introduction 

I.  I  had  the  idea  that  I  should  not  like  the  "Sketch-Book." 

A.  Preferring  to  read  stories. 

B.  Thinking  that  all  essays  were  "dry." 

II.  The  book  proved  really  interesting. 

A.  Humor. 

B.  Characterization. 

III.  I  felt  well  rewarded  for  reading  the  book. 

Body: 

I.  In  these  essays  we  learn  a  great  deal  of  Irving  the  man. 

A.  Personality. 

1.  Dreamy. 

a.  Fond  of  calling  up  old  stories. 

b.  Fond  of  meditation. 

2.  Sentimental. 

a.  Showing  interest  in  the  village  beauty's 

troubles. 

b.  Fond  of  old  associations. 

3.  Sensitive. 

a.  To  feelings  of  others. 

b.  To  external  impressions. 

4.  Tender. 

5.  Grave,  yet  playful,  by  turns. 

B.  Tastes. 

1.  Love  for  travel. 

2.  Love  of  literature. 

3.  Interest  in  history. 

II.  The  studies,  both  of  nature  and  human  nature,  which  Irving 
gives  us  would  alone  be  sufficient  reward  for  reading  the  book. 

A.  Nature. 

1.  Charming  woodland  scenes. 

2.  Rural  estates. 

3.  Ocean  scenes. 


42  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

B.  Human  nature. 

1.  Gentle  innocence  of  childhood. 

2.  Charming  grace  of  girlhood. 

3.  Loveliness  of  womanhood. 

ex.  Wife  of  Leslie. 

4.  Dignity  of  manhood. 

ex.  Roscoe. 

5.  Blessedness  of  parenthood. 

6.  Peace  of  age. 

ex.  The  Squire. 

III.  The  life  and  customs  of  England,  our  mother  country,  as 
Irving  shows  them  to  us,  form  the  greatest  interest  in  the 
book. 

A.  Customs. 

1.  Of  Irving's  time. 

a.  Rural. 

(1)  Funerals. 

(2)  Church  customs. 

b.  Urban. 

2.  Of  past  days. 

a.  Celebration  of  Christmas. 

b.  Allusions  to  historical  events. 

B.  English  life. 

1.  Rural. 

a.  Among  wealthy. 

b.  Among  poor. 

2.  Urban. 

a.  Among  aristocrats. 

b.  Among  middle  class. 
Conclusion: 

I.  Irving  deserves  a  high  place  among  writers. 
A.  Style. 

1.  Vivid. 

2.  Smooth. 

3.  Simple. 

4.  Pathetic. 


PREPARATION  43 

B.  Subjects. 

1.  Interesting. 

2.  Varied. 

C.  Manner  of  treatment. 

1.  Natural. 

2.  Sympathetic. 

II.  My  interest  in  the  "Sketch-Book"  has  made  me  want  to 
read  other  books  by  him. 

Pupil's  outline. 
See  also  page  243. 

Note  carefully  the  plans  of  talks  given  on  pages  364-402, 
making  formal  outlines  as  directed  by  the  instructor. 

THE  INTRODUCTION 

When  one  is  talking,  he  must,  of  course,  introduce  the 
subject  well;  but  in  planning  what  he  is  to  say  it  is  often 
well  to  outline  the  main  part,  the  discussion,  first,  in  order 
that  the  beginning  may  be  best  fitted  to  the  really  im- 
portant part. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  an  introduction  is  desir- 
able. When  you  go  to  a  friend's  house  and  find  another 
guest  there,  you  naturally  expect  an  introduction — a  begin- 
ning to  a  possible  acquaintance.  The  custom  is  not  merely 
one  of  courtesy.  It  informs  you  who  the  person  is,  and 
that  he  is  a  friend  or  acquaintance  of  your  friend.  So, 
the  reader  wants  to  know,  when  he  begins  an  article,  what 
it  is  about.  The  subject  is  made  clear  by  what  we  call  an 
introduction — a  leading  into  the  real  subject. 

Few  of  us  like  abruptness  in  anything.  Perhaps  we  do 
not  like  sudden  effects  of  any  kind.  They  jar  on  our  sense 
of  continuity,  and  make  us  feel  as  if  the  natural  order 
had  been  broken.  So  we  like  to  be  gradually  accustomed 
to  something  new.  We  want  time  to  readjust  our  minds 
and  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  a  new  atmosphere, 


44  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Smoothness,  then,  is  one  reason  for  the  introductory  sen- 
tences. 

If  a  man  picks  up  a  magazine  he  turns  over  the  pages 
till  he  finds  a  title  that  attracts  him.  Then  he  reads  a 
few  sentences  or  paragraphs,  to  find  out  whether  the  article 
suits  his  mood  or  is  worth  reading.  If  he  is  bored  by  the 
first  page,  he  does  not,  usually,  read  farther.  The  listener 
may  not  be  able  to  get  away  from  the  speaker  so  easily,  but 
he  may  let  his  mind  wander,  and  may  go  away  with  little 
or  no  idea  of  what  the  speech  was  about,  and  a  feeling  that 
he  will  try  to  avoid  hearing  that  man  again.  Of  course, 
the  purpose  of  the  speech  has  not  been  carried  out.  The 
speaker  who  interests  his  hearers  at  the  beginning  has  the 
best  opportunity. 

All  introductions  should  conform  to  the  requirements 
of  clearness,  smoothness,  and  interest.  But  there  are  vari- 
ous kinds,  differing  in  method  according  to  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  the  speech  or  article.  If  one  is  making  an  after- 
dinner  speech,  he  may  refer  to  something  the  preceding  gen- 
tleman said,  or  to  the  occasion  or  reason  for  his  being 
present.  This  method  is  often  used  in  large  assemblies, 
where  there  are  several  speakers.  This  does  not  imply  that 
an  apology  is  good  form  at  the  beginning,  unless  it  can  be 
made  humorous.  The  most  common  way  of  beginning  is 
to  tell  some  reason  jor  taking  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion. The  present  high  prices  may  cause  someone  to  dis- 
cuss the  causes  of  the  high  cost  of  living.  The  proposal 
of  certain  legislation  may  give  rise  to  the  discussion  of 
conditions  in  a  city  or  in  an  industry.  If  the  subject  is  a 
broad  one,  the  origin  or  history  of  it  may  be  told.  This  is 
especially  true  of  argumentative  speeches.  For  example: 
people  like  to  know  who  first  suggested  or  used  the  initia- 
tive or  referendum. 


PREPARATION  45 

In  the  case  of  a  new  subject,  or  one  difficult  to  under- 
stand, some  explanation  may  be  necessary.  A  few  years 
ago,  most  people  had  an  extremely  vague  idea  of  what  the 
recall  in  judicial  affairs  really  meant.  If  the  general  sub- 
ject is  large,  some  limitation  may  be  indicated  at  the  be- 
ginning. A  speaker  on  woman  suffrage  might  confine  his 
talk  to  the  movement  in  America.  A  general  statement 
may  be  made,  from  which  the  speaker  leads  to  the  par- 
ticular theme  he  has  in  mind.  He  may  make  some  asser- 
tion as  to  Shaksperean  plays,  then  speak  of  the  tragedies, 
and  finally  state  his  subject  as  Julius  Ccesar.  Some  speak- 
ers like  to  give  their  main  points  in  the  introduction,  that 
the  hearers  may  follow  them  more  readily.  This  is  ex- 
cellent for  a  long,  involved  treatment  of  a  difficult  subject, 
but  deadens  interest  in  a  short  talk.  Bald  statements,  such 

as,  "I  am  now  about  to  address  you  on ,"  or,  "I  will 

now  tell  you "  should  be  avoided. 

Frequently,  interest  is  aroused  by  something  definite  and 
vivid.  An  inspector  telling  of  conditions  in  the  tenements 
might  describe  first  a  typical  scene  in  a  crowded  section. 
Another  may  find  it  more  effective  to  tell  a  story,  some 
trifling  incident,  humorous  or  pathetic. 

In  general,  the  last  sentence  of  the  introduction  should 
be  what  is  called  a  theme  sentence,  one  which  expresses 
briefly  but  comprehensively  the  theme  of  the  talk  or  paper. 

Exercise  VIII. 

A.  Criticize  the  introductions  on  pages  46-54  for  clear- 
ness, interest,  and  smoothness. 

B.  Tell  to  what  type  each  belongs,  as  to  method. 

Exercise  IX. 

Make  for  each  an  outline  of  from  two  to  four  points,  as 


46  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

may  be  necessary,  with  sub-points,  the  last  main  point 
being  the  theme  sentence. 

1.  You  ask  that  which  he  found  a  piece  of  property  and  turned 
into  a  free  American  citizen  to  speak  to  you  to-night  on  Abraham 
Lincoln.    I  am  not  fitted  by  ancestry  or  training  to  be  your  teacher 
to-night,  for,  as  I  have  stated,  I  was  born  a  slave. 

My  first  knowledge  of  Abraham  Lincoln  came  in  this  way:  I 
was  awakened  early  one  morning  before  the  dawn  of  day,  as  I  lay 
wrapt  in  a  bundle  of  rags  on  the  dirt  floor  of  our  slave  cabin,  by 
the  prayers  of  my  mother,  just  before  leaving  for  her  day's  work, 
as  she  was  kneeling  over  my  body,  earnestly  praying  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  might  succeed,  and  that  one  day  she  and  her  boy  might  be 
free.  You  give  me  the  opportunity  here  this  evening  to  celebrate 
with  you  and  the  nation  the  answer  to  that  prayer. 

From  oration  on  Abraham  Lincoln  by  BOOKEB  T.  WASHINGTON. 
By  permission. 

2.  In  speaking  to  you,  men  of  the  greatest  city  of  the  West,  men  of 
the  State  which  gave  to  the  country  Lincoln  and  Grant,  men  who 
preeminently  and  distinctly  embody  all  that  is  most  American  in 
the  American  character,  I  wish  to  preach,  not  the  doctrine  of  ignoble 
ease,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  strenuous  life,  the  life  of  toil  and  effort, 
of  labor  and  strife,  to  preach  that  highest  form  of  success  which 
comes,  not  to  the  man  who  desires  mere  easy  peace,  but  to  the  man 
who  does  not  shrink  from  danger,  from  hardship,  or  from  bitter 
toil,  and  who  out  of  these  wins  the  splendid  ultimate  triumph. 

From  "The  Strenuous  Life,"  Essays  and  Addresses  by  THEODORE 
ROOSEVELT,  1900.  By  permission  of  The  Century  Co. 

3.  My  fellow  citizens— No  thoughtful  man  can  face  the  coming 
election  without  care  and  searching  of  heart.    It  is  not  a  time  for 
invective  or  mudslinging.    It  is  not  by  the  road  of  calumny  and 
vituperation  that  a  nation  progresses.    It  is  not  by  concentrating 
our  attention  upon  the  supposed  faults  and  shortcomings  of  our 
great  men  that  our  own   characters  are  improved  and  elevated. 
Let  us  try  in  fairness  and  justice  to  review  the  situation,  in  order 


PREPARATION  47 

that  we  may  intelligently  and  properly  perform  our  duty  at  the 
coming  election. 

From  speech  in  campaign  of  1912  by  H.  L.  STIMSON.  "Buffalo 
Express." 

4.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  convention:    I  am  ex- 
plaining my  vote  only  because  my  advice  was  not  followed  in  my 
own  delegation.    I  advised  that  those  of  us  who  are  instructed  for 
Mr.  Clark  should  continue  to  vote  for  him  until  conditions  arose 
that  justified  us  hi  doing  otherwise.    I  did  not  believe  that  the  con- 
ditions had  arisen,  but  not  all  of  the  delegation  agreed  with  me, 
and  then  I  was  desirous  that  a  poll  should  not  be  required,  but  if 
we  are  to  have  a  division,  if  a  poll  is  demanded  and  each  man  must 
give  a  reason  for  a  vote  that  he  casts,  I  am  now  ready  to  cast  my 
vote  and  to  give  my  reasons  for  so  doing. 

I  have  asked  the  privilege  of  making  an  explanation  because  I 
am  not  alone  in  this  convention.  I  do  not  represent  a  one-man 
opinion.  Many  of  these  delegates  look  at  this  question  as  I  do, 
and  when  I  speak  for  myself  I  speak  for  some  others  in  this  hall  and, 
I  am  sure,  for  a  still  larger  number  outside  of  this  hall.  I  recognize, 
therefore,  the  responsibility  that  rests  upon  me  when  I  do  what  I 
intend  to  do  and  I  give  the  explanation  that  I  now  propose  to  give. 

From  speech  in  Democratic  National  Convention,  1912,  by 
WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN. 

5.  Mr.  Toastmaster  and  fellow  Democrats:  We  are  met  to  cele- 
brate an  achievement.    It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that 
principles  have  no  anniversaries.    Only  the  men  who  embody 
principles  are  celebrated  upon  occasions  like  this  and  only  the 
events  to  which  their  concerted  action  gave  rise  excite  our  enthu- 
siasm.   You  know  that  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  Party  are 
professed  by  practically  the  whole  population  of  the  United  States. 
The  test  of  a  Democrat  is  whether  he  lives  up  to  those  principles 
or  not.     I  have  no  doubt  there  are  some  people  in  the  United  States 
who  covertly  question  the  doctrines  of  Democracy,  but  nobody 
challenges  them  openly.    It  goes  without  saying,  therefore,  that 
we  have  not  come  together  merely  to  state  the  abstract  principles 


48  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

of  our  party.  We  have  come  together  to  take  counsel  as  to  how 
it  is  possible,  by  courageous  and  concerted  action,  to  translate  them 
into  policy  and  law. 

From  speech  at  Jackson  Day  dinner,  Washington,  by  WOODROW 
WILSON,  January  8,  1912. 

6.  Cardinal  Farley  yesterday  visited  St.  Gabriel's  Church  on  East 
Thirty-sixth  Street,  where  for  seventeen  years  he  was  the  pastor,  to 
dedicate  the  new  parochial  school.    After  the  dedication  he  delivered 
an  address  in  the  chapel  of  the  new  school. 

I  am  full  of  gratitude  to  find  myself  here  again  among  my  dear 
children,  for  I  was  pastor  of  this  parish  for  more  than  seventeen  years 
and  the  cross  I  now  wear  is  very  dear  to  me,  for  it  was  given  to  me  by 
the  people  of  this  parish.  I  first  came  here  twenty-five  years  ago  to 
succeed  our  dear  founder,  the  Rev.  William  H.  dowry,  one  of  the 
greatest  defenders  of  the  Catholic  religion,  who  started  this  school 
where  none  was.  The  finger  of  God  is  seen  here  and  no  pleasanter 
duty  could  have  fallen  on  me  than  to  be  here  to  bless  your  school 
to-day.  It  used  to  be  my  ambition  to  end  my  days  here,  but  I 
always  wanted  to  alter  the  dark  class  rooms  and  get  such  a  building 
as  we  now  have.  But  I  was  called  away  to  other  fields  of  labor  and 
those  who  came  after  me  have  zealously  carried  out  and  completed 
the  good  work. 

The  endeavor  of  Catholic  schools  is  to  educate  all  the  faculties 
God  has  given  them  and  not  only  to  teach  religion,  as  the  calumnious 
throw  in  our  teeth,  but  to  teach  all  to  be  good  citizens  and  patriots. 

"New  York  Times." 

7.  As  I  was  speaking  to  a  fellow  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives a  few  days  ago  of  what  I  reckon  to  be  the  great  commer- 
cial value  of  the  Philippines,  he,  being  one  of  those  minded  to  get  rid 
of  those  islands  as  quickly  as  possible,  was  kind  enough  to  say  to  me 
that  he  preferred  "  principle  rather  than  pelf. "    Before  this  body  of 
business  men  I  wish  emphatically  to  protest  against  the  idea  which 
prevails  too  much  to-day — that  the  business  world  is  largely  a  world 
of  plunder.     Not  that  any  responsible  group  of  men  quite  venture 
to  affirm  this  to  be  so,  but  that  their  actions  and  their  words  almost 


PREPARATION  49 

or  quite  assume  it  as  a  basis.  Certainly  a  friendly  ear  is  not  always 
turned  to  the  requests  of  the  business  community  and  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  credit  seems  often  to  be  unknown.  It  is  true  that  the 
selfishness  of  some  has  reflected  to  a  degree  upon  us  all,  but  for  that 
reason  it  is  more  necessary  to  affirm,  as  I  now  do,  that  the  business 
men  of  America  are,  with  rare  exceptions,  upright  and  high-minded 
men,  respecting  the  rights  of  others,  conscious  of  their  duties  to 
their  fellows,  seeking  prosperity  through  service  rather  than  through 
selfishness  and  with  personal  consciences  never  so  active  and  with 
public  ideals  never  so  high  as  to-day.  Commerce  is  the  ally  of 
uplift  and  develops,  not  destroys.  And  this  great  club  of  1,600 
members  is  a  witness  that  you  as  business  men  meet  with  open 
minds;  each  willing  to  learn  from  the  other;  each  glad  to  give  from 
his  knowledge  to  the  other.  Therefore  it  is  a  special  pleasure  to 
talk  with  you  over  some  of  the  common  problems  of  our  daily  work. 
From  address  Some  Phases  of  the  Business  Outlook  by  the  Hon. 
WILLIAM  C.  REDFIELD  before  the  Business  Men's  Club  of  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  February  10,  1912. 

8.  A  man  who  tries  to  see  both  sides  of  a  question  is  sometimes 
accused  of  being  on  both  sides  by  the  different  parties  hi  the  con- 
troversy.    It  is  not  my  purpose  to-night  to  discuss  Socialism  as 
an  economic  doctrine,  or  a  political  propaganda,  least  of  all  to  assail 
my  good  friend,  the  mayor  of  the  city.     But  when  Socialism  claims 
to  be  a  solution  of  the  evils  of  the  world,  it  necessarily  comes  under 
the  domain  of  morals  and  religion.    On  this  ground  I  have  some- 
thing to  say  about  the  fallacy  I  see  in  it  as  such  a  solution. 

From  sermon  by  DR.  FRED  W.  ADAMS,  in  reply  to  an  editorial 
by  Mayor  Lunn,  socialistic  in  nature.  Reported  by  "Schenectady 
Union-Star." 

9.  Man  ever  aspires  to  rise  above  his  present  level.    Consciously 
or  unconsciously  he  moves  onward  and  upward.     With  or  without 
clearly  defined  methods,  he  labors  to  diminish  human  misery  and 
increase  human  happiness.     The  past  has  seen  his  plans  poorly 
developed.     Present  philosophy  has  a  clearer  conception  of  life's 
problems,  and  better  theories  for  their  solution.    The  present  social 


60  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

discontent  has  produced  various  theories  of  social  reconstruction. 
Prominent  among  these  are  Nihilism,  Anarchism,  Communism,  and 
Socialism.  These  four  are  alike,  in  that  they  spring  from  a  common 
cause  and  are  means  aimed  at  a  common  end. 

From  Relation  of  Modernisms  to  Progress  by  LINDLEY  G.  LONG, 
"Whining  Speeches,"  copyright,  1909,  by  American  Book  Co. 
Used  by  permission. 

10.  We  are  just  in  the  throes  of  tariff  revision.    Early  in  March 
was  introduced  the  Payne  bill  containing  a  number  of  modified 
duties.    At  once  a  highly  significant  struggle  began  in  Washington, 
The  country  seems  to  have  settled  upon  a  downward  revision  of  the 
tariff,  yet  each  group  is  jealously  guarding  its  own  particular 
interests.     Steel,   for   example,    rasps:     "Touch   not   our   sacred 
schedules! "     Lumber  and  pulp  cry:    "Cut  down  your  newspapers, 
not  our  profits!"    Agriculture  growls:  "Cheap  shoes,  by  all  means, 
but  abate  no  jot  of  the  duty  on  hides!"    Sugar  raises  the  slogan  in 
the  South.     "Preference  for  home  products!"     In  short,   tariff 
reduction,  in  theory  acceptable  to  all,  is  well-nigh  unattainable, 
simply  because  every  group  insists  on  retaining  all  the  privileges 
it  now  enjoys. 

This  dramatic  struggle  between  clashing  interests  is  typical  of 
the  spirit  which  to-day  dominates  our  national  life. 

(The  speaker  shows  that  this  spirit  exists  in  industrial,  political, 
and  social  life,  and  appeals  for  a  war  hi  behalf  of  the  public  weal.) 

From  Inglorious  Peace  by  CHARLES  C.  PEARCE,  "Whining 
Speeches,"  copyright,  1909,  by  American  Book  Co.  Used  by  per- 
mission. 

1 1 .  A  century  ago  this  world  was  a  slave-holding  world.   Through- 
out the  earth  there  was  not,  and  never  had  been,  an  important 
nation  where  the  crack  of  the  slave  whip  was  not  heard.    To-day 
there  is  not  a  civilized  nation  on  the  globe  where  man  can  own  his 
fellow  man.     Not  only  has  the  toiler  in  all  civilized  lands  been  made 
free,  but  society  is  educating  and  uplifting  the  laborer,  is  recognizing 
more  and  more  his  worth,  his  rights,  his  dignity.    This  is  a  great 
revolution,  one  of  untold  meaning  to  humanity.    It  has  cost  years 


PREPARATION  51 

of  violent  political  contest.  In  this  cause  martyrs  have  died,  armies 
have  striven  in  bloody  conflict,  and  nations  have  been  rent  asunder. 
The  turning  point  of  this  revolution  was  reached  in  our  civil  war, 
and  the  decisive  hour  of  that  war  occurred  when  the  southern  army 
struggled  in  mortal  combat  with  the  Union  forces  on  the  field  of 
Gettysburg.  What  were  the  principles  there  at  stake?  What  was 
the  history  of  that  battle,  and  what  its  influence? 

From  Gettysburg  by  FRED  L.  INGRAHAM,  "Winning  Speeches," 
copyright,  1909,  by  American  Book  Co.  Used  by  permission. 

12.  One  hundred  millions  of  people,  ninety  millions  between  the 
oceans  and  ten  millions  in  our  ocean  dependencies,  constitute  our 
population.  To-day,  right  in  the  harvest  time,  we  are  garnering 
crops  that  make  possible  the  greatest  prosperity  that  ever  faced 
this  country,  and  we  are  to-day  where  every  man  and  every  woman 
can  have  work  who  will,  where  wages  are  the  highest,  and  the 
individual  happiness  of  everyone  averages  higher  than  ever  before. 

I  dwell  on  that  fact  to-day,  borne  in  upon  me  by  the  procession 
of  beautiful  children  that  filed  by  me  this  morning,  evidencing 
happy,  comfortable  homes  and  moral  teaching  in  the  schools  and 
in  the  homes.  It  is  because  this  is  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  a  day 
as  different  in  respect  of  the  happiness  of  our  people  and  of  the 
prospect  before  them  as  day  is  from  night.  Fifty  years  ago  to-day 
we  were  hi  the  throes  of  rebellion,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been 
seen  in  the  world  before  and  I  hope  may  never  be  seen  in  the 
world  again. 

EX-PRESIDENT  TAFT.     "New  York  Tunes." 

On  an  afternoon  hi  April,  1862,  a  Northern  general  saw  his  beaten 
army  forced  back  step  by  step  toward  the  Tennessee  River,  which 
apparently  cut  off  all  hope  of  farther  retreat.  Of  forty  thousand 
men  that  had  gone  into  action  under  him  that  morning,  scarce  a 
quarter  remained  in  line.  Ten  thousand  were  killed,  wounded, 
or  prisoners;  twenty  thousand  more  had  broken  from  their  places 
at  the  front  and  were  helpless  to  resist  the  enemy's  victorious 
advance.  "This  looks  bad,"  said  one  of  the  general's  trusted 
friends  at  five  o'clock  on  that  eventful  afternoon  at  Pittsburg 


52  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Landing.  "  No, "  said  the  Union  commander,  as  he  looked  at  his 
watch,  "they  won't  quite  drive  us  into  the  river  in  the  two  hours 
of  daylight  that  remain.  They  have  put  hi  all  their  men  to-day, 
we  shall  be  reinforced  in  the  night,  and  to-morrow  we  shall  win." 
And  they  did. 

Somewhat  more  than  a  year  later  a  Confederate  general  stood 
on  the  ridge  opposite  Gettysburg,  watching  the  failure  of  the  last 
effort  of  his  army  to  win  a  decisive  victory  on  Northern  soil.  The 
high  hopes  of  the  morning  had  been  shattered  by  the  events  of  the 
afternoon.  There  was  no  panic  among  the  troops — two  years' 
experience  of  war  had  so  trained  the  soldiers  of  both  North  and 
South  that  they  were  hardly  less  steadfast  hi  defeat  than  in  victory — 
but  there  were  no  reinforcements  at  hand  and  no  ammunition  left 
to  fight  another  battle.  Nothing  remained  but  long  and  perilous 
retreat  through  a  hostile  country.  Wrung  as  his  heart  was  with 
anguish,  the  Confederate  general  yet  upheld  the  spirit  of  his  army 
by  his  unfaltering  resolution  and  unchanging,  even  heightened, 
courtesy  of  demeanor.  To  those  under  him  he  gave  praise.  What- 
ever blame  there  was  he  took  to  himself.  Never  did  the  gallant 
gentleman  who  for  three  years  led  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia 
show  himself  more  a  gentleman  than  on  that  disastrous  July  day 
when  he  saw  the  failure  of  a  battle  and  foresaw  the  failure  of  a 
cause. 

I  have  chosen  these  two  instances  from  the  lives  of  the  two 
great  leaders  on  opposite  sides,  Grant  and  Lee,  because  they  show 
the  essential  reason  why  those  men  were  leaders.  The  North  had 
generals  whose  mere  intellectual  power  of  planning  battles  was 
better  than  Grant's.  The  South  had  generals  whose  intellectual 
power,  taken  hi  this  same  narrow  sense,  was  just  as  good  as  Lee's. 
The  quality  that  lifted  these  men  above  their  fellows,  and  gave  them 
the  loyal  confidence  of  the  soldiers  under  them  and  the  people 
behind  them,  was  a  moral  one.  Both  were  calm  men,  not  unduly 
exalted  by  victory  nor  unduly  depressed  by  defeat — men  who  could 
moderate  the  excitement  of  those  under  them  when  there  was  danger 
of  rashness,  or  rouse  the  courage  and  endurance  of  their  followers 
when  there  was  danger  of  faintness.  That  was  why  men  loved  and 


PREPARATION  53 

trusted  them  during  their  lives;  that  is  why  men  venerate  their 
memory  after  they  are  gone. 

It  is  moral  quality  of  this  same  sort  that  is  needed  to  make  a  man 
a  leader  anywhere  and  hi  any  department  of  We,  to  make  people 
love  him  and  trust  him  and  follow  him.  Life  is  not  a  game  of  chess 
which  is  won  by  the  man  who  can  make  the  best  calculations. 
Now  and  then  a  man  like  Alexander  or  Napoleon  possesses  such 
transcendent  intellectual  powers  that  he  can  treat  life  as  if  it  were 
a  game,  and  can  dispose  of  nations  and  armies  as  though  they  were 
mere  castles  or  pawns  on  his  chess  board.  But  neither  a  Napoleon 
nor  an  Alexander  was  able  to  leave  an  enduring  empire.  The  men 
whose  work  has  lasted  best  are  those  like  Lincoln  and  Washington, 
like  Cromwell  and  William  the  Silent;  men  differing  greatly  in 
intellectual  gifts,  yet  marked  out  above  all  others  by  the  habit  of 
self-command.  Go  back  through  the  list  of  Christian  heroes  and 
martyrs,  back  to  Paul,  back  to  Jesus  himself,  and  we  find  that  the 
thing  that  counted  most  in  their  character  and  their  work  was  that 
they  had  risen  above  the  distractions  of  success  and  failure  into  a 
command  of  their  own  souls,  and  that  this  gave  them  -command 
over  the  deeds  and  the  souls  of  others. 

We  are  here  to  train  ourselves  for  leadership  in  our  several  call- 
ings. How  shall  we  attain  the  kind  of  power  that  these  men  pos- 
sessed, and  lead  the  world  to  trust  us  according  to  our  several  abili- 
ties in  the  same  kind  of  way  that  it  trusted  them? 

From  Matriculation  sermon  at  Yale  University,  1912,  by  PRESI- 
DENT ARTHUR  T.  HADLEY.  By  permission. 

14.  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Lotos  Club:  The  legend 
of  the  lotus  eaters  was  that  if  they  partook  of  the  fruit  of  the  lotus 
tree  they  forgot  what  had  happened  hi  their  country  and  were  left  in 
a  state  of  philosophic  calm  in  which  they  had  no  desire  to  return  to  it. 

I  do  not  know  what  was  in  the  mind  of  your  distinguished 
Invitation  Committee  when  I  was  asked  to  attend  this  banquet. 
They  came  to  me  before  the  election.  At  first  I  hesitated  to  accept 
lest,  when  the  dinner  came,  by  the  election  I  should  be  shorn  of 
interest  as  a  guest,  and  be  changed  from  an  active  and  virile  par- 


54  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

ticipant  in  the  day's  doings  of  the  Nation  to  merely  a  dissolving 
view. 

I  knew  that  generally  on  an  occasion  of  this  sort  the  motive 
of  the  diners  was  to  have  a  guest  whose  society  should  bring  them 
more  closely  into  contact  with  the  great  present  and  future,  and 
not  be  merely  a  reminder  of  what  has  been.  But  after  further 
consideration  I  saw  in  the  name  of  your  club  the  possibility  that  you 
were  not  merely  cold,  selfish  seekers  after  pleasures  of  your  own, 
and  that  perhaps  you  were  organized  to  furnish  consolation  to  those 
who  mourn,  oblivion  to  those  who  would  forget,  an  opportunity 
for  a  swan  song  to  those  about  to  disappear. 

This  thought,  prompted  by  the  coming,  as  one  of  your  com- 
mittee, of  the  gentleman  who  knows  everything  in  the  world  that 
has  happened  and  is  going  to  happen,  and  especially  that  which  is 
going  to  happen,  by  reason  of  his  control  of  the  Associated  Press, 
much  diminished  my  confidence  in  the  victory  that  was  to  come  on 
Election  Day.  I  concluded  that  it  was  just  as  well  to  cast  an  anchor 
to  the  windward  and  accept  as  much  real  condolence  as  I  could 
gather  in  such  a  hospitable  presence  as  this,  and  therefore,  my 
friends,  I  accepted  your  invitation  and  am  here. 

You  have  given  me  the  toast  of '  The  President, '  and  I  take  this 
toast  not  merely  as  one  of  respect  to  the  office  and  indicative  of 
your  love  of  country  and  as  typical  of  your  loyalty,  but  I  assume  for 
the  purposes  of  to-night  that  a  discussion  of  the  office  which  I  have 
held  and  in  which  I  have  rejoiced  and  suffered  will  not  be  inappro- 
priate. 

From  address  by  PRESIDENT  TAFT,  before  the  Lotus  Club  of 
New  York,  November  16,  1912. 

See  also  pages  355-402. 

THE  CONCLUSION 

The  conclusion  is  even  more  important  than  the  begin- 
ning. It  is  correspondingly  hard  to  handle.  We  have 
often  heard  people  keep  on  talking  long  after  they  had  said 
everything  they  had  to  say,  just  because  they  did  not  know 
how  to  stop.  Others  say,  "Well,  I  think  that  is  all  I  have 


PREPARATION  55 

to  say,"  and  sit  down  in  embarrassment.  Yet  the  ending, 
rightly  handled,  is  the  touchstone  of  a  speaker's  power. 

If  the  meaning  is  likely  to  be  misunderstood,  or  if  the 
talk  is  long,  a  conclusion  is  necessary  for  clearness.  The 
hearer  wants  to  remember  what  was  said,  and  to  have  a 
clear  idea  of  the  speaker's  point  of  view.  He  cannot  turn 
back  the  pages. 

An  abrupt  close  is  disconcerting.  We  like  to  feel  that 
we  have  had  warning  of  the  approaching  end,  and  that  we 
have  had  a  chance  to  pick  up  loose  ends  in  our  thoughts. 
Smoothness  in  discourse  always  pleases. 

Just  as  an  introduction  arouses  interest,  so  the  conclu- 
sion determines  the  effect  left  on  the  audience.  It  may 
cause  clear  and  agreeable  memories,  make  the  hearer  wish 
for  more,  or  inspire  him  to  apply  to  his  own  life  and  work 
whatever  of  good  the  speaker  had  for  him. 

The  method  or  type  differs  with  the  subject  and  the 
occasion.  If  one  phase  has  been  treated,  the  suggestion 
may  be  made  that  someone  else  investigate  farther,  and 
give  the  result.  If  other  parts  of  the  subject  have  been 
taken  up  in  another  speech,  or  if  time  does  not  permit  a 
fuller  discussion,  that  fact  may  be  mentioned. 

If  the  subject  is  specific,  one  may  sometimes  go  from 
the  particular  to  the  general.  The  writer  on  Julius 
Ccssar  may  pass  from  the  individual  play  to  brief  con- 
sideration of  certain  qualities  in  all  of  Shakspere's  trage- 
dies, and  finally  to  certain  characteristics  of  all  his  plays, 
or  of  all  tragedies.  As  another  means  of  clearness,  the 
summary  may  be  used  in  long  pieces  of  work,  but  it  is  dry 
and  monotonous  in  a  very  short  one,  except  in  argument, 
where  it  is  necessary.  Repetition  of  the  points  of  the  in- 
troduction is  sometimes  an  aid  to  clearness,  but,  for  the 
sake  of  variety,  should  be  very  carefully  used. 


56  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Sometimes  a  personal  element  may  be  introduced,  leav- 
ing the  audience  in  greater  sympathy  with  the  speaker. 
A  narrative  illustrating  the  theme  may  be  given.  The 
personal  opinon  of  the  speaker,  formed  after  observation  of 
the  conditions  he  has  told  about,  causes  others  to  think  for 
themselves,  agreeing  or  disagreeing.  The  impression  made 
on  one  who  has  been  in  close  touch  with  the  facts  may  be 
used  with  great  effect,  arousing  in  the  hearers  similar  sen- 
sations. Most  people  respond  more  quickly  to  the  indi- 
vidual than  to  the  general. 

The  most  effective  and  valuable  kind  of  ending  probably 
is  that  of  application.  What  is  the  possible  remedy  for 
such  a  state  of  affairs  as  we  have  found?  Have  those 
tried  been  reasonably  successful?  If  not,  why?  Perhaps 
the  plan  suggested  by  Mr.  B.  may  be  worth  trying.  The 
speaker  has  a  plan  that  might  be  carried  out.  Many 
speeches  call  for  immediate  action.  If  a  certain  law  is 
desirable,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  hearers  to  get  it  enacted. 
If  money  is  needed,  give  it  at  once.  People  sometimes 
need  just  this  spur  of  verbal  attack  or  suggestion  to  drive 
them  to  action. 

The  forms  of  beginning  and  ending  mentioned  are,  after 
all,  only  general,  and  admit  of  much  variation.  Other 
suggestions  will  be  given  in  connection  with  argumentation. 
Pages  270  and  297. 

Exercise  X. 

Criticize  the  conclusions  on  the  following  pages  for  clear- 
ness, smoothness,  and  effect  or  impression. 
Tell  to  what  type  each  belongs,  as  to  method. 

Exercise  XL 

Make  an  outline  for  each. 


PREPARATION  57 

1.  The  soul  is  not  a  shadow.    The  body  is.    Genius  is  not  a 
shadow,  it  is  substance.    Patriotism  is  not  a  shadow;  it  is  light. 
Great  purposes,  and  the  spirit  that  counts  death  nothing,  in  con- 
trast with  the  honor  and  welfare  of  our  country — these  are  the  wit- 
nesses that  man  is  not  a  passing  vapor,  but  an  immortal  spirit. 

From  True  Greatness  by  THOMAS  STARR  KING. 

2.  Surely,  if  the  immortal  dead,  serene  with  the  wisdom  of  eter- 
nity, are  not  above  all  joy,  and  pride,  he  must  feel  a  thrill  to  know 
that  no  mariner  or  merchant  ever  sent  forth  a  venture  upon  un- 
known seas  which  came  back  with  richer  cargoes  or  with  statelier 
ships. 

From  speech  on  Grant's  Work  by  THOMAS  B.  REED. 

3.  From  our  investigation  three  points  are  clear:     (1)  the  extent 
and  efficiency  of  women's  work  for  public  schools  have  been  exag- 
gerated because  it  has  been  assumed  that  certain  striking  examples 
of  cooperation  indicate  general  conditions  prevailing  everywhere; 
(2)  there  are  openings  for  college  women  in  school  cooperation 
whether  they  want  personal  connection,  club  connection,  or  paid 
professional  positions;    (3)  our  colleges  are  not  giving  us  the  train- 
ing we  need  to  do  efficient  work  as  volunteers.    Ask  any  school 
or  health  official  or  business  man  what  he  thinks  of  our  volunteer 
work.     I  am  sure  our  reputation  does  not  fairly  express  our  possi- 
bilities.   The  A.C.A.  stands  for  efficient  community  work,  including 
efficient  volunteer  service.     Its  demand  will  be  heard  that  our 
colleges  teach  us  how  to  work  so  that  our  services  will  not  only  be 
welcome,  but  will  be  progressively  valuable. 

From  address  What  Women  Have  Done  for  Public  Schools  by 
ELBA  DENNISON,  "Journal  of  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnse." 

4.  See  page  48  for  introduction  to  address  concluding  as  follows: 
Finally,  gentlemen,  I  have  not  sought  to  deal  with  details  but 

with  essentials,  and  the  most  essential  thing  in  our  shop  is,  or  ought 
to  be,  ourselves.  Therefore,  I  have  tried  plainly  to  speak  to  you 
of  our  own  needs  for  self-help.  The  same  thing  in  our  industrial 


58  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

life  that  we  teach  our  children  in  our  private  lives.  Let  us  there- 
fore lay  down  certain  laws  for  ourselves: 

A  thing  is  not  right  because  we  do  it. 

A  method  is  not  good  because  we  use  it. 

Equipment  is  not  the  best  because  we  own  it. 

The  wisest  of  us  has  much  to  learn. 

None  of  us  can  afford  to  be  deceived  about  our  own  affairs. 

It  is  better  by  self-criticism  to  find  and  correct  our  own  faults 
than  to  have  our  customers  do  it  for  us. 

It  is  a  sound  law  of  the  business  world— "To  thine  own  self  be 
true,  and  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day,  thou  canst  not  then 
be  false  to  any  man." 

And  I  end  as  I  began.  To  get  by  the  law  of  gouge  and  grasp  is 
not  true  commerce.  Against  that  law  our  enlightened  business 
sense  protests,  and  with  equal  force  it  protests  against  the  wicked 
assumption  that  our  business  men  are  in  any  large  part  under  the 
control  of  the  law  of  gouge  and  grasp. 

Commerce  is  service,  the  friend  of  the  worker,  the  servant  of  the 
consumer.  I  venture  a  protest  against  the  spirit  of  attack  that 
far  too  much  prevails.  Criticism  should  be  a  sane  and  sober  process. 
This  is  not  found  in  that  tyrannous  type  of  mind  that  involves  those 
who  disagree  with  it  hi  torrents  of  common  abuse  and  denunciation. 
All  are  not  wicked  at  whom  mud  is  thrown  and  righteousness  is  not 
advanced  by  evil  means.  We  believe  in  progress;  it  is  a  law  of 
business  to  do  so.  But  we  believe  also  in  moderation  and  base  our 
hopes  for  the  future  on  moderate  progressiveness  and  on  progressive 
moderation,  in  public  as  well  as  in  business  affairs. 

From  address  on  Some  Phases  of  the  Business  Outlook  by  WILLIAM 
C.  REDFIELD. 

5.  See  page  47  for  introduction  to  address  concluding  as  follows: 
The  only  thing  that  can  ever  make  a  free  country  is  to  keep 
a  free  and  hopeful  heart  under  every  jacket  in  it,  and  then  there 
will  be  an  irrepressible  vitality,  then  there  will  be  an  irrepressible 
ideal  which  will  enable  us  to  be  Democrats  of  the  sort  that  when 
we  die  we  shall  look  back  and  say:  'Yes;  from  tune  to  time  we 


PREPARATION  59 

differed  with  each  other  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done,  but,  after  all, 
we  followed  the  same  vision,  after  all  we  worked  slowly,  stumbling 
through  dark  and  doubtful  passages  onward  to  a  common  purpose 
and  a  common  ideal. '  Let  us  apologize  to  each  other  that  we  ever 
suspected  or  antagonized  one  another;  let  us  join  hands  once  more 
all  around  the  great  circle  of  community  of  council  and  of  interest 
which  will  show  us  at  the  last  to  have  been  indeed  the  friends  of 
our  country  and  the  friends  of  mankind. 

From  speech  at  Jackson  Day  dinner  by  WOODROW  WILSON. 

6.  To  think  of  good  business  without  thinking  of  these  contribu- 
tory causes  to  good  business  on  the  one   hand,  these  dangers  to 
good  business  on  the  other  hand — to  think  of  good  business  without 
thinking  of  social  justice,  industrial  evolution,  and  the  measure 
of  socialism  that  is  gripping  our  country  to-day — is  to  view  the 
situation  with  the  complacency  with  which  the  monarchy  and 
aristocracy  of  France  viewed  the  situation  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  French  revolution. 

From  speech  Responsibility  of  the  Business  Man  in  campaign  of 
1912  by  FRANK  A.  MUNSEY. 

7.  Our  cause,  then,  must  be  intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by,  its 
own  undoubted  friends — those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts 
are  in  the  work — who  do  care  for  the  result.    Two  years  ago  the  Re- 
publicans of  the  nation  mustered  over  thirteen  hundred  thousand 
strong.     We  did  this  under  the  single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a 
common  danger,  with  every  external  circumstance  against  us.    Of 
strange,  discordant,  and  even  hostile  elements,  we  gathered  from  the 
four  winds,  and  formed  and  fought  the  battle  through,  under  the 
constant  hot  fire  of  a  disciplined,  proud,  and  pampered  enemy.    Did 
we  brave  all  then,  to  falter  now? — now,  when  that  same  enemy  is 
wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent?    The  result  is  not  doubtful. 
We  shall  not  fail— if  we  stand  firm,  we  shall  not  fail.    Wise  counsels 
may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it,  but,  sooner  or  later,  the  vic- 
tory is  sure  to  come. 

From  speech  at  Republican  Convention,  Springfield,  1858  by 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


60  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

8.  See  page  46  for  introduction  to  address  concluding  as  follows: 

And  so,  my  friends,  you  have  to  choose  between  these  two  great 
different  courses  of  action.  We  believe  hi  going  forward;  we  believe 
that  the  lines  upon  which  this  nation  has  been  acting  during  the  last 
decade  are  right;  we  believe  that  the  great  problems  of  modern  life 
require  the  best  study,  the  best  training  and  the  most  consistent  ef- 
fort that  this  nation  can  put  into  them;  we  believe  that  the  science 
of  government  involves  greater  responsibility  and  the  exercise  of 
greater  power  than  ever  before;  we  believe  that  in  order  to  preserve 
to  every  citizen  the  opportunities  and  benefits  of  our  present  civiliza- 
tion we  require  more  government  and  more  intelligent  government 
every  year;  we  believe  that  the  great  social  problems  of  humanity 
about  which  so  much  has  been  said  during  this  campaign  can  only 
be  solved  by  a  faithful,  conscientious  and  intelligent  exercise  of  the 
national  power,  such  as  the  Republican  party  has  been  developing 
for  fifty  years.  We  think  it  is  a  bad  tune  to  go  backward  or  to  try 
new  experiments.  While  we  are  ready  to  go  forward  as  fast  as  the 
way  can  be  cleared  by  patient  and  careful  study,  we  ask  you  to  be 
on  your  guard  against  impulse  and  passion  and  resentment. 

The  great  work  of  government  can  only  be  accomplished  by  pa- 
tience, courage  and  forbearance.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  our  ballots 
are  cast  hi  that  spirit.  Let  us  remember  the  great  responsibilities, 
reaching  even  as  far  as  these  far-off  lands,  which  rest  upon  the  deci- 
sion we  shall  reach  hi  November,  and,  in  the  spirit  of  the  faith 
which  has  carried  us  thus  far,  let  us  make  that  decision  then. 

From  campaign  speech,  Buffalo,  1912  by  H.  L.  STIMSON. 

See  pages  297-8,  357-402  for  other  examples. 

The  person  who  thoroughly  prepares  himself  for  a  talk, 
short  or  long,  on  any  occasion,  has  two  great  advantages. 
His  material  is  presented  clearly,  in  an  orderly  manner,  at 
its  best.  Whatever  the  speaker  can  do,  he  is  able  to  do 
with  this  subject  at  this  time.  He  will  not  feel  chagrined 
afterward.  His  part  before  the  audience  has  been  made 
easier.  He  knows  that  the  greater  part  of  his  work  is 
done  before  he  rises  to  speak.  He  is  able,  since  the  plan 


PREPARATION  61 

has  been  made,  to  give  care  and  thought  to  the  immediate 
expression.  There  will  be  greater  ease  and  security,  re- 
sulting in  a  better  impression. 

Much  is  said  of  the  value  of  the  habit  of  extempora- 
neous speech.  This  is  great.  The  naturalness,  the  spon- 
taneity, of  unpremeditated  speech  is  full  of  charm.  It  wins 
admiration.  Moreover,  the  ability  to  speak  without  pre- 
vious notice  prevents  embarrassment  and  makes  one  al- 
ways ready  to  respond.  But  how  do  people  acquire  this 
very  desirable  power?  They  attain  it,  not  at  once,  not, 
in  most  cases,  as  a  result  of  aptitude,  but  as  a  result  of 
the  trained  habit  of  thinking  in  an  orderly  manner  and 
of  expressing  themselves  without  fear  or  hesitation.  The 
persistence  in  habits  of  careful  preparation  will  produce 
extemporaneous  speakers  of  power. 


CHAPTER  III 
EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT 

ONE  may  have  something  to  say  of  vital  importance, 
and  may  have  his  material  well  arranged  in  his  mind,  yet 
fail  utterly  to  gain  or  hold  the  attention  of  his  audience, 
or  to  make  his  ideas  theirs.  On  the  manner  of  expression, 
after  all,  depends  to  a  great  degree  the  effect  of  the  spoken 
communication. 

The  term  expression  covers  much  that  must  be  consid- 
ered by  the  successful  speaker.  His  method  of  saying 
things,  arrangement  of  paragraphs,  sentences,  and  words, 
choice  of  words  and  pronunciation  of  them,  his  manner  of 
placing  himself  before  the  audience,  his  use  of  the  body  as 
an  aid,  and  his  control  over  the  voice,  all  determine  expres- 
sion. 

THE  PARAGRAPH 

The  planning  of  a  talk  involves,  to  some  extent,  the 
paragraph  division.  You  may  think  that  paragraphing  be- 
longs only  to  writing,  but  it  is  as  essential  a  part  of  speak- 
ing. In  fact,  since  the  hearer  is  deprived  of  that  aid  in 
distinguishing  the  parts  of  the  composition,  the  paragraph 
indentation,  he  must  be  the  more  clearly  made  aware  of 
the  parts  by  oral  paragraphing. 

The  word  paragraph  means  a  writing  beside.  The  sign 
was  used  to  call  attention  to  something  in  the  text,  gen- 
erally a  change  of  subject.  If  you  look  at  the  King  James 
version  of  the  Bible,  you  will  see  this  use  illustrated.  In 

62 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     63 

modern  writing  the  paragraph  has  become  the  unit  of 
expression. 

This  emphasis  on  the  paragraph  is,  however,  a  late  de- 
velopment in  our  use  of  English.  As  late  as  the  Eliza- 
bethan age,  even  the  best  writers  had  little  sense  of  the 
relation  of  sentences.  If  you  read  the  prose  of  that  period, 
you  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  comprehend  what  the  writer 
was  trying  to  say,  and  still  more  difficult  to  grasp  his  ideas 
in  logical  relation.  Bacon  arranged  his  thoughts  clearly, 
but  his  essays  were  not  of  the  kind  to  emphasize  struc- 
ture. Sir  William  Temple,  in  the  late  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, had,  as  Professor  Minto  says,  "a  certain  apprehen- 
sion, however  faint,"  of  paragraph  method.  Addison, 
famous  for  the  smoothness  of  his  style,  was  as  notable  for 
loose  arrangement.  Dr.  Johnson  was  the  first  to  bring 
into  prominence,  if  he  did  not  originate  it,  the  practice  of 
stating  a  general  principle  and  following  it  by  the  particu- 
lars in  arranged  sentences.  Though  the  marvelous  use  of 
illustration  in  various  forms  made  Burke's  statements  clear, 
and  though  he  often  expressed  in  a  sentence  the  topic  of  a 
single  paragraph,  he  did  not  pay  great  attention  to  the  con- 
nection of  sentences. 

It  remained,  then,  for  the  nineteenth  century,  so  rich 
in  poetic  form,  to  develop  and  formulate  the  theory  of 
the  paragraph,  and  thus  help  bring  to  perfection  the  art 
of  English  prose.  De  Quincey  gave,  as  "the  two  capital 
secrets  in  the  art  of  prose  composition  .  .  .  the  philosophy 
of  transition  and  connection,"  and  "the  way  in  which  sen- 
tences are  made  to  modify  each  other."  Professor  Bain,  a 
Scottish  philosopher,  undertook  to  lay  down  rules  for  the 
paragraph.  Macaulay  paid  more  attention  to  paragraph 
structure  than  most  writers.  As  the  century  grew  old, 
many  students,  by  a  careful  study  of  the  best  in  the 


64  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

works  of  great  writers  and  speakers,  were  able  to  set  forth 
some  general  qualities  found  in  these  works,  and  to  formu- 
late the  methods  used.  In  this  way,  we  have  learned  how 
we,  too,  may  emulate  the  best. 

There  are  two  reasons  why  the  paragraph  should  re- 
ceive so  much  attention.  For  a  short  composition  or  talk, 
on  a  simple  subject,  it  is  the  only  practicable  form.  In 
longer  articles  or  speeches  it  is  the  means  of  setting  off 
and  developing  clearly  and  smoothly  each  division  or  sub- 
division of  the  subject.  Without  the  paragraph,  the  mass 
of  material  poured  out  before  the  public  in  these  days 
would  be  confused,  and  fail  utterly  to  penetrate  the  minds 
of  most  of  us. 

The  qualities  found  to  be  vital  to  the  paragraph  are,  in 
general,  those  essential  to  any  written  or  oral  composi- 
tion taken  as  a  whole.  The  first  is  unity.  The  paragraph 
must  have  a  central  idea,  with  lesser  ones  dependent  on 
it.  There  should  be  no  digression.  When  this  central 
thought  is  determined,  it  must  be  expressed,  in  clear,  con- 
cise, comprehensive  form,  in  what  is  called  the  topic  sen- 
tence. Often  this  is  placed  at  the  beginning  or  after  an 
introductory  sentence,  but  it  may  be  in  the  middle  or  at 
the  end.  Indeed,  some  good  writers  and  speakers  express 
the  topic  of  one  paragraph  at  the  beginning  of  the  next. 
In  speaking,  the  beginning  is,  for  the  sake  of  clearness, 
usually  the  best,  though  repetition  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  often  aids.  The  closing  sentence  may  often  be  made 
to  help  unify  the  paragraph,  by  repetition  in  other  words, 
of  the  central  thought,  or  by  summarizing.  Within  the 
paragraph  each  subdivision  should  have  a  sentence  or 
clause  to  denote  it,  followed  by  such  sentences  as  are  neces- 
sary to  treat  that  phase.  Keeping  the  same  point  of  view 
throughout,  aids  in  giving  the  impression  of  unity. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     65 

Another  quality  that  makes  the  talk  pleasing  to  the 
hearer  is  coherence.  This  is  obtained  in  two  ways.  The 
order  of  treatment  should  be  natural  and  logical.  What 
point  will  best  serve  to  lead  up  to  the  chief  point?  What 
will  be  the  smoothest  progression?  Then,  the  parts  must 
be  fastened  together  so  that  no  gaps  need  be  bridged  by 
the  mind  of  the  hearer  at  the  expense  of  the  vital  points. 
The  hearer  cannot  go  back  and  find  the  missed  connec- 
tion. It  must  be  made  for  him  so  that  he  cannot  miss  it. 
For  this,  words,  phrases,  and  clauses,  even  whole  sen- 
tences, may  be  employed.  Personal  and  demonstrative 
pronouns,  time  words,  adverbs  and  phrases  of  place,  ex- 
pressions of  comparison  and  of  result,  may  all  be  used.  It 
is  best,  however,  to  avoid  using  the  same  words  of  co- 
herence frequently,  and  to  use  those  for  which  there  is 
some  reason,  lest  they  seem  put  there  only  because  the 
speaker  thought  vaguely  that  he  must  insert  some  con- 
nective. This,  that,  it,  however,  nevertheless,  in  fact,  then, 
too,  afterward,  meanwhile,  on  the  other  hand,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  therefore,  as  a  result,  so,  are  examples  of  words 
that  may  be  used.  When  you  speak,  it  is  harder  to  think 
of  the  proper  connectives  than  when  you  write.  Therefore, 
it  is  wise  to  practice  consciously  the  art  of  connecting  sen- 
tences. 

See  transitional  sentences,  page  247. 

Since  it  is  impossible  for  even  the  best  mind  to  retain  all 
that  a  speaker  says,  it  is  especially  necessary  that  the 
speaker  obey  the  rules  of  emphasis.  Otherwise,  the  im- 
pression left  on  the  hearer  will  not  be  what  was  intended. 
Proportion  must  be  observed.  The  most  important  point 
should  be  given  most  time,  though  not  so  much  as  to  dwarf 
the  others  in  comparison.  One-third  of  the  material  should 


66  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

never  take  two-thirds  of  the  presentation.  Some  speakers 
dwell  so  long  on  the  first  part,  though  it  may  be  of  the 
least  value,  that  as  the  time  for  closing  approaches  they 
are  forced  to  crowd  in  all  the  rest,  leaving  out  much  of 
the  development.  Although  one  should  not  keep  his  eyes 
glued  to  a  clock,  an  occasional  swift  glance  at  a  watch 
at  one's  side  may  help  in  avoiding  this.  It  is  well  to  work 
up  to  a  climax  by  expressing  the  strongest,  most  effective 
point  last.  Anti-climax  gives  the  impression  of  weakness 
and  indicates  that  the  speaker  had  no  more  of  real  value  to 
say,  and  that  he  added  something  just  to  fill  up  time. 
Though  first  impressions  of  persons  may  be  the  most  last- 
ing, last  impressions  are,  in  speech,  more  forcible.  The  be- 
ginning as  well  as  the  ending  counts  in  right  emphasis.  A 
good  start  looks  forward.  A  good  close  reflects  the  merit  of 
the  effort. 

Probably  the  great  men  whose  works  we  study  never 
thought  of  naming  the  various  kinds  of  paragraphs  they 
used,  but  we,  who  have  to  develop  a  lesser  talent,  find  it 
convenient  for  the  sake  of  distinguishing  methods.  In 
telling  a  story,  we  use  the  narrative,  or  time  method.  In 
description,  or  the  enumeration  of  facts,  we  find  detail  or 
particulars  necessary.  If  we  wish  to  make  something  very 
clear  to  one  who  does  not  understand  it,  we  define  or  ex- 
plain. Sometimes  the  same  end  is  gained  by  repetition  in 
other  words,  or  by  amplification  of  the  general  statements. 
A  principle  or  theory  may  be  applied  to  some  specific  or 
concrete  instance.  Any  statement  or  generalization  may  be 
illustrated  by  mention  of  numerous  examples,  or  recital  at 
greater  length  of  some  incident  that  points  the  statement. 
If  there  is  likelihood  of  doubt,  proofs  may  be  adduced.  The 
statement  of  a  cause  may  be  followed  by  an  account  of 
the  results.  Two  persons  or  things  or  conditions  may  be 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     67 

compared,  showing  either  likenesses  or  differences.  Some- 
times negation,  or  telling  what  a  thing  is  not,  may  be 
used  both  for  definition  and  comparison.  Indeed,  some 
good  paragraphs  are  made  up  by  combining  several  of 
these  methods. 

Exercise  I. 

Study  the  following  paragraphs  with  regard  to  technique. 

a.  Unity.    What  sentence  expresses  the  topic?    Is  it  a 
good  one  for  the  purpose?    What  points  are  included  in  the 
development?    Are  they  vitally  related  to  the  topic  sen- 
tence? 

b.  Coherence.     Comment  on  the  order  of  development. 
What  connectives  are  used?    How?    Are  they  the  best? 

c.  Emphasis.    Is  the  proportion  good?    Is  the  most  forci- 
ble order  used?    Are  the  first  and  last  sentences  adapted  to 
their  uses?    Does  the  whole  leave  a  good  impression?    Does 
the  speaker  use  too  many  words? 

Exercise  II. 

Study  the  same  paragraphs  for  method  of  development. 
Can  you  distinguish  the  type?  Is  it  the  most  suitable  for 
the  subject? 

1.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  primitive  Romans  to  preserve  in  the 
halls  of  their  houses  the  images  of  all  the  illustrious  men  whom 
their  families  had  produced.  These  images  are  supposed  to  have 
consisted  of  a  mask  exactly  representing  the  countenance  of  each 
deceased  individual,  accompanied  with  habiliments  of  like  fashion 
with  those  worn  in  his  time,  and  with  the  armor,  badges,  and  insignia 
of  his  offices  and  exploits:  all  so  disposed  around  the  sides  of  the 
hall  as  to  present,  in  the  attitude  of  living  men,  the  long  succession 
of  the  departed;  and  thus  to  set  before  the  Roman  citizen,  whenever 
he  entered  or  left  his  house,  the  venerable  array  of  his  ancestors 
revived  in  this  imposing  similitude.  Whenever,  by  a  death  in  the 
family,  another  distinguished  member  of  it  was  gathered  to  his 
fathers,  a  strange  and  awful  procession  was  formed.  The  ancestral 


68  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

masks,  including  those  of  the  newly  deceased,  were  fitted  upon  the 
servants  of  the  family,  selected  of  the  size  and  appearance  of  those 
whom  they  were  intended  to  represent,  and  drawn  up  in  solemn 
array  to  follow  the  funeral  train  of  the  living  mourners,  first  to  the 
market-place,  where  the  public  eulogium  was  pronounced,  and  then 
to  the  tomb.  As  he  thus  moved  along,  with  all  the  great  fathers 
of  his  name  quickening,  as  it  were,  from  their  urns,  to  enkindle  his 
emulation,  the  virtuous  Roman  renewed  his  vows  of  respect  to 
their  memory,  and  his  resolution  to  imitate  their  fortitude,  frugality, 
and  patriotism. 

From  Adams  and  Jefferson  by  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

2.  Now  their  separate  characters  are  briefly  these.  The  man's 
power  is  active,  progressive,  defensive.  He  is  eminently  the  doer, 
the  creator,  the  discoverer,  the  defender.  His  intellect  is  for  specu- 
lation and  invention;  his  energy  for  adventure,  for  war,  and  for 
conquest  wherever  war  is  just,  wherever  conquest  necessary.  But 
the  woman's  power  is  for  rule,  not  for  battle, — and  her  intellect  is 
not  for  invention  or  creation,  but  for  sweet  ordering,  arrangement, 
and  decision.  She  sees  the  qualities  of  things,  their  claims,  and  their 
places.  Her  great  function  is  Praise;  she  enters  into  no  contest, 
but  infallibly  adjudges  the  crown  of  contest.  By  her  office,  and 
place,  she  is  protected  from  all  danger  and  temptation.  The  man, 
in  his  rough  work  in  the  open  world,  must  encounter  all  peril  and 
trial: — to  him,  therefore,  must  be  the  failure,  the  offence,  the  in- 
evitable error;  often  he  must  be  wounded,  or  subdued:  often  misled; 
and  always  hardened.  But  he  guards  the  woman  from  all  this; 
within  his  house,  as  ruled  by  her,  unless  she  herself  has  sought  it, 
need  enter  no  danger,  no  temptation,  no  cause  of  error  or  offence. 
From  Sesame  and  Lilies  by  JOHN  RUSKIN. 

3  What  is  anarchy?  It  is  a  very  old  spirit,  and  has  existed  from 
the  earliest  ages.  It  has  manifested  itself  in  every  age  and  in  nearly 
every  man.  We  see  it  in  the  child,  in  its  first  childish  defiance  of 
parental  law.  It  manifests  itself  in  every  community;  there  are 
anarchists  here,  and  there  are  anarchists  all  over  the  world.  Where- 
ever  men  are  determined  to  do  their  own  will,  or  pleasure,  irre- 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     69 

spective  of  the  laws  which  have  been  enacted  for  public  welfare — 
there  is  the  spirit  of  anarchy.    Every  criminal  has  it 

"No  thief  e'er  felt  the  halter  draw, 
With  good  opinion  of  the  law. " 

Arson,  theft,  drunkenness,  adultery,  murder — all  the  horrible 
crimes  which  have  ever  been  committed — are  its  natural  fruit.  And 
the  unending  struggle  of  humanity,  from  the  earliest  age,  has  been 
to  gain  the  victory  over  this  vile  spirit,  and  bring  it  into  subjection. 
From  The  State  versus  Anarchy  by  L.  CLARK  SEELYE. 

4.  We  claim  that  we  are  entitled  to  a  popular  vote  of  confidence  at 
the  coming  election  because  we  have  demonstrated  that  we  are  the 
party  of  affirmative,  constructive  policies  for  the  betterment  and 
progress  of  our  country  in  all  the  fields  upon  which  the  activity 
and  influence  of  Government  can  rightly  enter.    We  claim  it  because 
we  have  shown  ourselves  a  party  of  honest,  efficient,  and  economical 
administration  hi  which   public  moneys  are  faithfully  applied, 
appointments  are  made  on  grounds  of  merit,  efficient  service  is 
rigorously  exacted,  graft  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  derelictions  from 
official  duty  are  sternly  punished,  and  a  high  standard  of  official 
morality  is  maintained.    We  claim  it  because  we  have  maintained 
and  promoted  peace  with  the  world,  and  the  dignity,  honor,  and 
just  interests  of  the  United  States  among  the  nations.    We  claim 
it  because  our  party  stands  now,  as  it  has  ever  stood,  for  order  and 
liberty  and  for  the  maintenance  of  the  constitutional  system  of 
government  through  which  a  self-controlled  democracy  for  more 
than  a  century  has  established  against  all  detractors  the  compe- 
tency of  the  American  people  to  govern  themselves  in  law-abiding 
prosperity. 

From  opening  speech  at  Republican  National  Convention,  1912, 
by  ELIHU  ROOT. 

5.  Second,  the  railroads  should  be  permitted  to  earn  and  hold  a 
surplus  equal  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  amount  they  pay  out  in  divi- 
dends, to  be  held  for  emergencies  and  applied  to  improved  facilities. 
There  are  many  expenses,  and  new  ones  constantly  arising,  that 


70  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

must  not  be  added  to  capital  charge  unless  rates  are  to  be  made 
that  the  public  cannot  and  ought  not  to  be  asked  to  bear.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  heavy  demands  of  the  ordinary  growth  of  traffic,  there 
are  many  extraordinary  expenses.  Public  authorities  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  order  the  railroads  to  provide  additional  equipment.  This, 
being  only  partially  under  the  owner's  control,  is  soon  scattered 
over  the  country.  The  weaker  roads  prefer  paying  a  per  diem 
charge  to  buying  for  themselves.  This  compels  the  stronger  roads 
practically  to  provide  new  equipment  for  the  whole  country  and 
pay  the  cost  of  it  from  their  own  resources.  Grade  crossings  must 
be  eliminated  both  in  the  cities  and  in  the  country.  The  ordering 
of  these  is  held  to  be  a  legitimate  part  of  the  police  power  of  the 
state,  whose  exercise  is  unlimited.  To  raise  or  lower  tracks  at  a 
single  city  may  cost  millions  of  dollars.  This  class  of  expenses 
grows  very  rapidly  in  the  United  States  as  population  becomes 
denser.  Safety  appliances  must  be  adopted.  Ingenuity  is  adding 
yearly  to  the  number  of  these;  and  the  public  demands  rightly 
that  they  be  put  hi  to  use  as  soon  as  their  value  is  demonstrated. 
But  all  these  things  take  money — and  a  great  deal  of  it. 

From   The  Necessity  of  Terminal  Facilities  for   Railroads  by 
JAMES  J.  HILL. 

6.  Even  some  little  tune  after  the  iceberg  was  struck  it  did  not 
occur  to  me  that  there  was  the  least  danger,  and  I  thought  of  going 
to  bed.    Then  the  officers  began  to  come  along  the  decks  and  tell 
the  passengers  that  though  there  was  no  danger  it  might  be  as  well 
if  the  passengers  got  into  the  boats  as  a  matter  of  precaution.    A 
number  of  people  were  strolling  along  talking  about  the  experience 
that  the  ship  had  just  gone  through  and  for  a  tune  no  one  was  willing 
to  get  into  any  of  the  boats.    At  last  a  few  did  get  in,  and  by  degrees 
the  meaning  of  it  all  was  realized. 

7.  After  waiting  for  an  interminable  time  with  the  collapsible 
boat  in  my  hands  I  felt  the  Titanic  sinking  under  my  feet.    I 
could  feel  her  going  under  at  the  bows.    The  storage  batteries 
furnishing  the  light  again  gave  out,  and  there  was  darkness.    I 
tried  to  wait,  but  suddenly  found  myself  leaping  from  the  rail, 
away  up  in  the  air,  and  I  felt  an  eternity  before  I  hit  the  water. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     71 

When  I  came  to  I  felt  myself  drawn  into  the  suction,  and  when  I 
felt  a  cake  of  ice  near  I  clung  to  it. 

Extracts  from  accounts  of  the  Titanic  Disaster,  as  given  "New 
York  Times"  reporter. 

8.  Those  900,000  homesteaders  and  the  entries  of  thousands  of 
preemption  claimants,  desert  land,  and  stone  and  timber  entrymen, 
as  well  as  the  railroads  themselves,  have  culled  over  the  lands  of  the 
Western  States  until  to-day  there  only  remain  the  lands  that  have 
been  during  all  of  these  years  and  up  to  the  present  passed  over 
many  times  and  rejected  as  unfit  for  cultivation  and  not  worth 
the  effort  required  for  their  reclamation.    The  result  is  that  at  the 
present  time  not  only  are  our  home  seekers  becoming  more  and  more 
reluctant  to  take  the  remaining  isolated  tracts  of  land,  but  the 
stringency  of  the  rulings  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  and  the 
construction  placed  upon  the  existing  laws  are,  in  the  judgment  of 
your  committee,  seriously  retarding  the  development  of  the  West. 
This  statement  is  conclusively  borne  out  by  the  very  rapidly  de- 
creasing number  of  original  entries. 

SENATOR  TAYLOR.    "Congressional  Record." 

9.  There  is  no  test  of  a  man's  ability  in  any  department  of  pub- 
lic life  more  severe  than  service  in  the  House  of  Representatives; 
there  is  no  place  where  so  little  deference  is  paid  to  reputation 
previously  acquired  or  eminence  won  outside;  no  place  where  so 
little  consideration  is  shown  for  the  feelings  or  failures  of  beginners. 
What  a  man  gains  in  the  House  he  gains  by  sheer  force  of  his  own 
character,  and  if  he  loses  and  falls  back  he  must  expect  no  mercy 
and  will  receive  no  sympathy.    It  is  a  field  in  which  the  survival 
of  the  strongest  is  the  recognized  rule  and  where  no  pretense  can 
deceive  and  no  glamour  can  mislead.    The  real  man  is  discovered, 
his  words  are  impartially. weighed,  his  rank  is  irreversibly  decreed. 

From  speech  on  Garfield  by  JAMES  G.  ELAINE.    "World's  Best 
Orations,"  copyright  by  Ferd.  P.  Kaiser  Publishing  Co. 

10.  I  do  then  declare  my  conviction,  and  wish  it  may  stand  record- 
ed to  posterity,  that  there  never  was  a  bad  man  that  had  ability  for 
.good  service.     It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  such  men;  their  minds  are 


72  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

so  distorted  to  selfish  purposes,  to  knavish,  artificial,  and  crafty 
means  of  accomplishing  those  selfish  ends,  that,  if  put  to  any  good 
service,  they  are  poor,  dull,  helpless.  Their  natural  faculties  never 
had  that  direction,— they  are  paralytic  on  that  side;  the  muscles, 
if  I  may  use  that  expression,  that  ought  to  remove  it,  are  all  dead. 
They  know  nothing  but  how  to  pursue  selfish  ends  by  wicked  and 
indirect  means.  No  man  ever  knowingly  employed  a  bad  man  on 
account  of  his  abilities,  but  for  evil  ends. 

From  speech  On  Impeachment  of  Hastings.    BURKE. 

11.  The  circumstances  of  our  day  are  so  utterly  different  from 
those  of  Jefferson's  day  that  it  may  seem  nothing  less  than  an 
act  of  temerity  to  attempt  to  say  what  Jefferson  would  do  if  he 
were  now  alive  and  guiding  us  with  his  vision  and  command. 
The  world  we  live  in  is  no  longer  divided  into  neighborhoods  and 
communities;  the  lines  of  the  telegraph  thread  it  like  nerves  uniting 
a  single  organism.    The  ends  of  the  earth  touch  one  another  and 
exchange  impulse  and  purpose.    America  has  swung  out  of  her 
one-time  isolation  and  has  joined  the  family  of  nations.    She  is 
linked  to  mankind  by  every  tie  of  blood  and  circumstance.    She  is 
more  cosmopolitan  In  her  make-up  than  any  other  nation  of  the 
world;  is  enriched  by  a  greater  variety  of  energy  drawn  from  strong 
peoples  the  world  over.    She  is  not  the  simple,  homogeneous,  rural 
nation  that  she  was  in  Jefferson's  time,  making  only  a  beginning  at 
development  and  the  conquest  of  fortune;  she  is  great  and  strong; 
above  all  she  is  infinitely  varied;  her  affairs  are  shot  through  with 
emotion  and  the  passion  that  comes  with  strength  and  growth  and 
self-confidence.    We  live  hi  a  new  and  strange  age  and  reckon  with 
new  affairs  alike  in  economics  and  politics  of  which  Jefferson  knew 
nothing. 

From  speech  What  Jefferson  Would  Do  by  WOODROW  WILSON  at 
Jefferson  Day  Dinner,  1912. 

12.  Those  who  look  only  at  the  surface  of  things  and  judge  trade 
unionism  by  an  occasional  glimpse  are  likely  to  underestimate  the 
uplifting  influence  of  this  institution  upon  the  character  of  the 
wage-earner.    Trade  unionism  distinctly  raises  the  moral  tone  of 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     73 

the  wage-earner  by  infusing  into  him  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of 
labor.  There  is  much  lip  service  paid  to  the  ennobling  effect  of 
labor  and  the  dignity  it  confers  upon  the  workman,  but  it  is  the 
trade  union,  more  than  any  other  institution,  that  translates  these 
mere  professions  into  actual  deeds.  The  unionist  feels  that  it 
is  not  the  work  itself  but  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  is  accepted 
and  performed  that  ennobles  the  worker.  The  principal  element 
that  gives  to  labor  its  dignity  is  its  voluntary  character.  There 
was  nothing  ennobling  hi  the  toil  of  the  slave,  crouching  beneath 
the  lash;  there  was  nothing  ennobling  in  the  work  of  the  serf, 
bowed  down  by  the  weight  of  ages;  there  is  little  of  the  dignity  of 
labor  in  the  forced  work  of  the  convict  or  of  the  man  toiling  under 
the  padrone  system;  there  is,  indeed,  little  dignity  and  nothing 
ennobling  in  the  work  of  any  man  whose  earnings  of  to-day  are 
absolutely  necessary  that  he  may  live  to-morrow.  The  greater  the 
initiative  and  the  more  complete  the  independence  of  the  worker 
the  greater  the  pleasure  in  his  work  and  the  more  ennobling  it 
becomes. 

From  an  address  Philosophy,  Purposes  and  Ideals  of  the  Trade 
Union  Movement  by  JOHN  MITCHELL. 

13.  It  is  upon  the  manual  toilers,  upon  those  who  literally  eat  their 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  face,  that  the  burdens  of  our  modern 
industrial  system  and  of  our  largely  commercialized  civilization 
bear  the  heaviest.  They  realize  the  inequalities  of  that  system 
more  keenly  than  those  who  have  fared  better  economically.  They 
come  face  to  face  with  the  concrete  shortcomings  of  that  civiliza- 
tion; they  realize  in  their  own  daily  lives  of  poorly  requited  toil 
how  far  that  civilization  is  from  its  ideals.  All  this  fosters  dis- 
content; but  it  is  not  necessarily  a  discontent,  pessimistic,  hopeless, 
despairing,  sodden.  It  is  a  discontent  that  is  hopeful,  optimistic, 
ambitious,  militant.  It  is  the  discontent  that  stimulates  to  struggle, 
that  turns  one's  mind  and  thoughts  from  the  mere  contemplation 
of  the  failures  of  our  system  of  civilization  to  its  ideals  and  its  un- 
realized possibilities.  And  for  this  reason  the  seeming  paradox 
is  true,  that  among  those  who  are  held  down  closest  to  the  struggle 
for  the  mere  necessities  of  life,  who  enjoy  least  of  the  material  and 


74  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  intellectual  fruits  of  our  civilization,  who  live  most  in  its  toil, 
its  smoke,  and  its  grime,  and  least  in  its  leisure  and  its  sunshine — 
that  among  these  one  finds  most  frequently  the  optimist  and  the 
idealist. 

From  address  Interest  of  the  Wage  Earner  in  the  Peace  Movement 
by  CHARLES  PATRICK  NEILL.  By  courtesy  of  American  Association 
for  International  Conciliation. 

14.  How  much  of  the  excellence  of  our  great  writers  from  Milton, 
Jeremy  Taylor,  and  Baxter  downward  is  traceable  to  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  diction  of  the  Bible?  We  can  feel  it  in  four  great  mas- 
ters of  our  tongue  who  adorned  the  last  generation,  to  all  of  whom 
the  Scriptures  were  familiar  from  childhood.  We  recognize  it  in 
the  speeches  of  John  Bright  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  hi  the  sermons 
and  essays  of  Cardinal  Newman,  and  in  the  earlier  writings  of 
Thomas  Carlyle  before  his  style  became  Germanized.  The  names 
of  Lincoln  and  Bright  suggest  the  immense  and  unique  service 
which  this  translation  rendered  to  men  of  our  stock.  It  brought 
this  wonderful  storehouse  of  historical  narrative  and  moral  reflec- 
tion, this  incomparable  record  of  the  progress  of  the  human  spirit 
and  of  all  the  forms  in  which  its  conception  of  the  relations  of  men 
to  God  were  expressed  within  the  reach  of  those  who,  like  Bright, 
received  no  very  wide  education,  and  those  who,  like  Lincoln, 
received  no  education  at  all.  This  vast  realm  of  knowledge  and 
imagination,  embracing  so  much  of  human  life  and  thought — these 
words  of  lofty  and  ardent  thinkers,  touching  the  heart  and  making 
all  its  deepest  chords  vibrate,  came  within  the  grasp  and  were 
familiar  to  the  ordinary  man  and  woman  and  became  to  many  of 
them  the  only  intellectual  stimulus  and  the  only  moral  guidance 
they  ever  received.  These  were  the  foundation  of  Christian  life 
not  merely  to  the  wise  and  learned,  but  to  whoever  could  read  or 
listen  to  the  reading  of  the  sacred  words — to  the  humble  cottager  of 
England,  to  the  lonely  shepherd  upon  Scottish  moors,  to  the  early 
settlers  wringing  a  scanty  livelihood  from  the  rocky  hillsides  of 
New  England. 

From  speech  at  Bible  Tercentenary  by  JAMES  BRYCE.  "Bible 
Society  Record." 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     75 

15.  There  have  been  men  of  this  quality  in  the  world.    It  is  re- 
corded of  Bernardino  of  Siena  that,  when  he  came  into  the  room,  his 
gentleness  and  purity  were  so  evident  that  all  that  was  base  and 
silly  in  the  talk  of  his  companions  was  abashed  and  fell  into  silence. 
Artists  like  Fra  Angelico  have  made  their  pictures  like  prayers. 
Warriors  like  Chevalier  Bayard  and  Sir  Philip  Sidney  and  Henry 
Havelock  and  Chinese  Gordon  have  dwelt  amid  camps  and  conflicts 
as  Knights  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Philosophers  like  John  Locke  and 
George  Berkeley,  men  of  science  like  Newton  and  Herschel,  poets 
like  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson  and  Browning  have  taught  virtue 
by  their  lives  as  well  as  wisdom  by  their  works.    Humanitarians 
like  Howard  and  Wilberforce  and  Raikes  and  Charles  Brace  have 
given  themselves  to  noble  causes.     Every  man  who  will  has  it  in 
his  power  to  make  his  lif e  count  for  something  positive  hi  the  redemp- 
tion of  society.    And  this  is  what  every  man  of  moral  principle 
is  bound  to  do  if  he  wants  to  belong  to  the  salt  of  the  earth. 

16.  There  is  a  loftier  ambition  than  merely  to  stand  high  hi  the 
world.    It  is  to  stoop  down  and  lift  mankind  a  little  higher.    There 
is  a  nobler  character  than  that  which  is  merely  incorruptible.    It 
is  the  character  which  acts  as  an  antidote  and  preventive  of  corrup- 
tion.    Fearlessly  to  speak  the  words  which  bear  witness  to  righteous- 
ness and  truth  and  purity;  patiently  to  do  the  deeds  which  strengthen 
virtue  and  kindle  hope  in  your  fellow  men;  generously  to  lend  a 
hand  to  those  who  are  trying  to  climb  upward;  faithfully  to  give 
your  support  and  your  personal  help  to  the  efforts  which  are  making 
to  elevate  and  purify  the  social  life  of  the  world, — that  is  what  it 
means  to  have  salt  in  your  character.    And  that  is  the  way  to  make 
your  life  interesting  and  savory  and  powerful.    The  men  that  have 
been  happiest,  and  the  men  that  are  the  best  remembered,  are  the 
men  that  have  done  good. 

Selections  from  Salt  by  HENKY  VAN  DYKE. 

In  addition  to  the  various  types  of  isolated  paragraphs, 
there  are  short  link  paragraphs,  used  to  connect  where 
the  transition  cannot  easily  be  made,  and  introductory  and 
concluding:  paragraphs.  These  do  not  always  have  topic 


76  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

sentences,  as  they  are  not  of  importance  in  themselves,  but 
only  as  they  lead  to  others.  One  idea  suggests  another. 
Whatever  subject  is  suggested  is  only  touched  upon,  since 
it  is  subsidiary  to  the  thought  of  the  whole  talk. 

17.  But  that  is  not  enough;  that  is  not  all.  All  histories  of  wild 
and  savage  people,  all  the  histories  of  lawless  and  undisciplined  men, 
all  the  histories  of  civil  wars  and  revolutions,  all  the  histories  of. 
discord  and  strife  which  checks  the  onward  march  of  civilization 
and  holds  a  people  stationary  until  they  go  down  instead  of  going 
up,  admonish  us  that  it  is  not  enough  to  be  independent  and  courag- 
eous. 

From  The  Spirit  of  Self-Government  by  ELIHU  ROOT. 

Study  the  examples  given  on  pages  245-246. 

In  connection  with  paragraph  subjects  given  in  follow- 
ing pages,  allied  phases  of  the  general  subject  might  be 
discussed  by  other  pupils. 

Exercise  III. 

Construct  a  topic  sentence,  outline  main  points,  and  at 
least  first  order  of  sub-points,  and  develop  a  paragraph  on 
one  of  the  following.  See  specimen  outline,  page  77. 

1.  Qualities  of  a  book  worth  reading. 

2.  Characteristics  of  a  good  librarian,  or  policeman,  or  nurse, 

or  saleswoman. 

3.  Powers  of  a  policeman,  or  postmaster,  or  a  minor  city  officer. 

4.  Causes  of  forest  fires,  or  floods,  or  volcanic  eruptions,  or 

earthquakes. 

5.  Causes  of  some  recent  labor  strike. 

6.  The  factors  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

7.  The  sequence  in  which  the  biologic  sciences  should  be  studied. 

8.  The  life  history  of  the  salmon,  or  the  butterfly,  or  the  frog. 

9.  The  value  of  scientific  classification. 

10.  The  value  of  the  use  of  Latin  scientific  terms. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     77 

11.  Value  of  birds,  or  of  the  honeybee,  or  worms. 

12.  Uses  of  the  telegraph,  or  wireless  at  sea,  or  the  aeroplane  in 

war. 

13.  Purposes  of  the  study  of  geometry. 

14.  Value  of  the  study  of  history,  or  Lathi,  or  French,  or  German, 

or  of  some  one  science. 

15.  The  value  of  museums,  or  parks. 

16.  Geographic  advantages  of  Rome,  or  of  England,  of  New  York, 

of  New  Orleans,  of  San  Francisco,  of  Chicago. 

17.  Advantages  our  town  has  for  a  certain  factory. 

18.  Benefits  of  the  —          —  railway  to  our  town. 

19.  Value  of  the  county  seat  to  a  town. 

20.  How  Caesar  gained  a  hold  on  his  men. 

THE  BENEFITS  OF  VACATION. 

The  great  amount  of  travel  on  railway  and  steamship  lines  every 
summer  indicates  that,  more  and  more,  people  are  realizing  the 
value  of  a  vacation. 

I.  Vacation  enables  one  to  rest. 

A.  Physically. 

1.  Relaxation  of  body. 

2.  Healthful  exercise. 

a.  Providing  change  of  activity. 

b.  Counteracting    nerve    strain. 

B.  Mentally. 

1.  Less  concentration  necessary. 

2.  No  anxiety  over  work. 

II.  Vacation  is  a  tune  for  recreation. 

A.  Opportunity  to  enjoy  scenery. 

1.  Tune  to  reach  distant  places. 

2.  Tune  to  visit  places  of  interest  hi  the  vicinity. 

B.  Possibility  of  taking  up  some  favorite  pursuit,  such  as 

1.  Playing  some  game. 

2.  Caring  for  flowers. 

3.  Drawing. 


78  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

III.  One's  ability  to  work  is  renewed. 

A.  Bodily. 

1.  Ability  to  exert  greater  physical  strength. 

2.  Ability  to  endure  the  strain  of  continued  effort. 

3.  Control  of  nerves. 

B.  Mentally. 

1.  Interest  renewed. 

2.  View  broadened,  balanced. 

Exercise  IV. 

Construct  a  topic  sentence,  outline  the  points,  and  de- 
velop a  paragraph  orally  on  one  of  the  following  subjects: 

1.  My  idea  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  a  lady,  or  of  a 

gentleman. 

2.  The  ideal  pupil. 

3.  The  ideal  office-holder. 

4.  What  a  novel  is,  or  a  play,  or  an  allegory,  or  a  romance. 

5.  The  trial  jury,  or  the  grand  jury. 

6.  What  a  constitution  is. 

7.  What  a  republic,  or  a  democracy,  or  a  monarchy,  or  an  empire, 

is. 

8.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

9.  Caesar's  camp  formation. 

10.  The  formation  of  the  phalanx. 

11.  The  equipment  of  a  foot-soldier  in  CaBsar's  time,  or  now,  in 

the  American  army. 

12.  How  crowds  are  managed  by  the  police. 

13.  How  electric  storms  are  caused,  or  hail  storms,  or  snow  on 

the  mountains. 

14.  Why  the  tide  rises  and  falls. 

15.  What  an  eclipse  is. 

16.  The  principles  of  photography. 

17.  Structure  of  the  camera. 

18.  The  principle  of  the  thermometer,  or  the  hygrometer,  or  the 

telescope,  or  the  microscope. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     79 

19.  The  turbine  water-wheel,  or  the  electric  motor  in  street  cars 

run  without  trolleys. 

20.  The  composition  of  coal. 

21.  Structure  of  the  butterfly's  wing. 

22.  How  the  caterpillar  spins  a  cocoon. 

23.  How  the  cricket  chirps,  or  the  katydid  makes  its  sound. 

24.  How  dandelions  are  propagated. 

25.  How  seedless  oranges,  or  grapes,  are  obtained. 

26.  How  soil  is  loosened. 

27.  How  plants  obtain  sustenance  from  the  ah-. 

28.  How  the  bee  gathers  pollen  and  honey. 

29.  How  the  piano  is  played.     (Structure.) 

Exercise  V. 

Construct  the  topic  sentence,  plan  the  outline,  and  de- 
velop the  paragraph  orally  by  the  method  of  comparison, 
on  one  of  the  following.  See  page  68,  example  2;  page  72, 
example  11. 

1.  Comparison  of  the  novel  and  the  drama. 

2.  Argumentation  and  exposition,  or  description  and  exposition. 

3.  Comparison  of  two  characters  in  a  novel  you  are  reading. 

4.  Comparison  of  two  novels  or  of  two  plays  as  to  interest. 

5.  Comparison  of  the  style  of  two  authors  whose  books  you 

have  read. 

6.  Comparison  of  two  magazines  or  of  two  newspapers,  as  to 

nature  of  contents. 

7.  A  republic  compared  to  a  monarchy. 

8.  Comparison  of  the  chief  principles  of  two  parties  at  present. 

9.  The  principles  of  the  Federalists  and  the  Anti-Federalists. 

10.  Patricians  and  Plebeians. 

11.  Athenian  and  Spartan  education. 

12.  Social  life  in  public  schools  as  compared  with  that  in  private 

schools. 

13.  How  basket-ball  as  played  by  girls  differs  from  the  boys'  game. 

14.  How  American  football  differs  from  Rugby  football. 

15.  Comparison  of  trees  and  herbs. 


80  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

16.  Comparison  of  the  vertebrate  eye  and  the  camera. 

17.  The  circulatory  systems  of  a  man  and  a  fish,  or  of  a  fish  and  a 

crayfish. 

18.  Comparison  of  kinetic  and  potential  energy. 

19.  Noise  and  music. 

20.  The  tungsten,  or  Mazda  lamp  and  the  common  incandescent 

lamp. 

21.  Comparison  of  two  kinds  of  heat  radiators. 

22.  Centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces. 

23.  The  plum  and  the  peach,  or  the  pear  and  the  apple. 

24.  Comparison  of  the  dog  and  the  cat  as  domestic  animals. 

25.  The  comparative  desirability  of  two  routes  to  Chicago,  or 

to  New  York,  or  to  Boston. 

26.  The  work  of  the  architect  and  of  the  carpenter  in  building 

a  house. 

27.  The  work  of  the  city  mail-carrier  as  compared  with  the  work 

of  the  rural  carrier. 

28.  The  advantages  of  the  electric  car  as  compared  to  the  horse- 

car. 

Exercise  VI. 

Develop  a  paragraph  on  one  of  the  following  by  illustra- 
tion.   See  page  75,  example  15. 

1.  How  men  of  great  wealth  use  it  for  the  people. 

2.  Congestion  in  the  city  of . 

3.  The  trying  life  of  a  physician,  or  of  a  clergyman,  or  of  a 

settlement  worker. 

4.  The  possibility  of  rising  from  lowliness  to  a  high  position. 

5.  The  possibility  of  a  poor  boy  obtaining  a  college  education. 

6.  The  queer  use  of  English. 

7.  Shakspere's  use  of  history. 

8.  Fads  of  society  women. 

9.  Hobbies  of  prominent  men. 

10.  Eccentricities  of  men  of  genius. 

11.  Methods  of  helping  the  poor. 

12.  Spirit  of  some  athletes. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     81 

13.  The  value  of  accuracy. 

14.  The  danger  of  carelessness. 

15.  The  crowded  conditions  on Street. 

16.  How  children  often  amuse  themselves. 

17.  The  saving  of  babies  by  pure  milk. 

18.  What  the  Fresh  Ah*  Fund  means  to  some  children. 

19.  Manners  hi  this  decade. 

20.  The  danger  hi  practical  joking. 

21.  "An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure." 

22.  "All's  well  that  ends  well." 

Exercise  VII. 

Plan  and  develop  a  paragraph  to  prove  or  disprove  one 
of  the  following  topics.  See  page  69,  example  5,  and  page 
71,  example  10. 

1.  Physical  culture  is  a  benefit  to  health. 

2.  Football  is  a  dangerous  form  of  athletics. 

3.  Football  develops  manly  qualities  in  the  players. 

4.  Basket-ball  is  an  excellent  exercise  for  girls. 

5.  Music  improves  the  mind. 

6.  Sewing,  or  cooking,  should  be  taught  hi  schools. 

7.  Manual  training  is  of  great  benefit  to  pupils. 

8.  Literary  societies  are  a  benefit  to  high  school  pupils. 

9.  There  should  be  a  gymnasium  hi  every  school  building. 

10.  There  should  be  a  large  playground  for  every  school. 

11.  The  country  boy  has  many  advantages  over  the  city  boy. 

12.  It  is  improbable  that  any  one  language  will  become  universal. 

13.  Graduation  from  a  high  school  is  of  value  to  a  boy  who  goes 

into  business. 

14.  Synthetic  rubber  is  likely  to  take  the  place  of  natural  rubber. 

15.  The  voters  of  to-day  are  more  independent  than  those  of 

a  generation  ago. 

16.  A  knowledge  of  Latin  is  of  practical  value. 

17.  New  York  City  is  becoming  a  summer  resort. 

18.  The  winters  are  less  severe  than  formerly  hi  the  Middle  At- 

lantic States. 


82  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

19.  The  earth  is  not  a  perfect  sphere. 

20.  New  York  State  is  a  glaciated  region. 

21.  The  glacier  helped  make  New  York  the  Empire  State. 

22.  A  molecule  of  hydrogen  consists  of  two  atoms. 

Exercise  VIII. 

Develop  one  of  the  following  subjects  into  a  paragraph 
by  cause  and  effect.  See  examples  on  page  71,  example  8, 
and  page  73,  example  13. 

1.  Effects  of  exploration  and  travel  hi  Elizabethan  times. 

2.  How  the flood  was  caused. 

3.  The  working  of  conscription  in  foreign  armies. 

4.  The  present  high  cost  of  shoes,  or  eggs,  or  aluminum  utensils 

5.  The  lowered  cost  of  typewriters,  or  of  automobiles. 

6.  The  use  of  Chinese  hair  in  large  quantities. 

7.  Fashions  and  the  textile  factories. 

8.  The  scarcity  of  laborers  on  farms. 

9.  The  agitation  over  employers'  liability  acts. 

10.  The  regulating  of  weights  and  measures. 

11.  The  reaction  of  factors  of  environment  on  an  organism. 

12.  Differentiation  and  division  of  labor. 

13.  Near-sightedness. 

14.  Habits  and  modifications  of  blind  fish  found  in  caves. 

15.  The  adaptation  of  teeth  in  a  rat  or  squirrel. 

16.  The  relation  of  insects  to  the  cultivation  of  figs  in  the  United 

States. 

17.  The  temperatures  of  the  bottom  waters  of  the  Mediterranean 

and  the  adjacent  Atlantic. 

18.  The  climate  of  England  as  affected  by  certain  conditions. 

19.  What  would  follow  an  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  of  45°. 

20.  The  relation  of  the  mosquito  to  disease. 

21.  The  introduction  of  dry  fanning  hi  Kansas. 

THE  SENTENCE 

The  paragraph  expresses  the  central  idea,  or,  in  a  longer 
treatment  of  a  subject,  some  phase  of  it.  The  paragraph 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     83 

is,  in  turn,  made  up  of  sentences,  each  of  which,  bearing 
on  the  same  subject  or  some  phase  of  it,  has  a  lesser,  subor- 
dinate, thought.  "A  sentence  is  the  expression  of  a  com- 
plete thought."  It  must,  then,  have  a  subject,  and  must 
predicate  something  of  that  subject.  Since  there  are  many 
possible  modifications  of  any  idea,  these  may  be  included 
by  means  of  clauses  subordinate  to  the  principal  one,  by 
phrases,  or  by  words  which  serve  in  place  of  groups  of 
words.  What  is  known  as  "style"  depends  largely  on  the 
structure  of  sentences.  Unity,  coherence,  emphasis,  con- 
cord, variety,  and  harmony  must  all  be  considered. 

A.  Rules  for  securing  unity  in  the  sentence: 

1.  Avoid  changing  the  point  of  view  or  the  subject. 

2.  Avoid  a  loose  arrangement  of  relative  clauses,  espe- 
cially a  relative  clause  within  a  relative  clause,  or  and 
which  if  there  is  no  coordinate  relative  clause. 

3.  Do  not  crowd  into  the  same  sentence  ideas  which  have 
no  close  connection. 

4.  Avoid  the  too  frequent  use  of  and  by  subordinating  the 
less  important  phases  of  the  thought  to  be  expressed. 

5.  Do  not  add  a  supplementary  clause  when  the  thought 
is  complete. 

6.  Do  not  insert  needless  parenthetical  expressions. 

B.  Rules  for  securing  coherence,  or  clearness,  in  the  sen- 
tence. 

1.  Unless  there  is  good  reason  for  not  doing  so,  follow  the 
natural  English  order:    subject,  verb,  modifiers. 

2.  Place  all  words,  phrases,  and  clauses  as  near  as  possi- 
ble to  the  words  they  modify. 

3.  Place  every  pronoun  so  that  its  antecedent  cannot  be 
mistaken. 

4.  Avoid  a  careless  use  of  participial  phrases,  such  as  the 
"dangling  participle." 

5.  Avoid  throwing  a  word,  phrase,  or  clause  so  loosely 


84  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

into  a  sentence  that  it  might  modify  either  the  preceding 
or  the  following  part. 

C.  Rules  for  securing  emphasis  in  the  sentence: 

1.  Avoid  a  weak  or  commonplace  beginning,  such  as,  now, 
well,  because. 

2.  Avoid  a  weak  or  commonplace  ending,  such  as  a  prep- 
osition. 

3.  Whenever  possible,  arrange  the  parts  so  as  to  form  a 
climax. 

4.  Use  parallel  structure,  several  clauses  of  the  same  kind 
in  succession,  if  you  can  do  it  without  monotony. 

5.  Use  connective  words  very  carefully. 

6.  Invert  the  natural  order  occasionally  to  draw  attention 
to  the  point  of  an  adverbial  clause,  or  to  throw  the  most 
important  part  to  the  end. 

7.  Leave  out  all  words  which  do  not  add  to  the  meaning. 

a.  Tautology  consists  in  repeating  the  thought. 

It  rained  all  day,  from  six  in  the  morning  till  night. 

b.  Redundancy  is  the  use  of  words  not  necessary  to  the 

sense. 

Collect  together  all  the  fragments. 

c.  Verbosity  consists  in  using  many  words  when  few 

are  needed  to  express  the  meaning. 

D.  Rules  for  securing  concord  in  sentences: 

1.  A  verb  should  agree  with  its  subject. 

a.  The  verb  with  a  collective  noun  should  be  singular 

or  plural,  according  as  the  group,  or  the  indi- 
viduals in  it,  are  prominent. 

b.  If  there  are  two  subjects  of  different  persons  or 

numbers,  the  verb  agrees  with  the  more  prom- 
inent, or,  if  there  is  no  emphasis,  with  the  nearer. 

c.  A  verb  used  in  the  predicate  of  two  or  more  sub- 

jects, denoting  different  things,  should  be  plural. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     85 

2.  The  correct  verb  form  should  be  used, 
a.  Distinguish  between 


lie,    lay,   lain 
sit,    sat,   sat 
rise,  rose,  risen 


lay,    laid,     laid, 
set,     set,       set. 
raise,  raised,  raise. 


b.  Use  the  right  form  for  the  past  tense  and  past  par- 

ticiple. 

I  begin, 
I  come, 
I  eat, 
I  do, 
I  drink, 
I  give, 
I  go, 
It  rings, 
I  run, 
I  see, 
I  write, 
It  grows, 

c.  Observe  the  sequence  of  tenses: 

In  a  complex  sentence  each  verb  takes  the  tense 
of  the  time  that  it  expresses;  thus  a  general  truth 
is  expressed  in  the  present. 

The  tense  of  the  verb  in  the  subordinate  clause, 
or  the  tense  of  an  infinitive,  should  not  conflict  with 
that  of  the  main  verb. 


began, 

[  have  begun. 

came, 

have  come. 

ate, 

have  eaten. 

did, 

have  done. 

drank, 

have  drunk. 

gave, 

have  given. 

went, 

have  gone. 

t  rang, 

t  has  rung. 

ran, 

have  run. 

saw, 

have  seen. 

wrote, 

[  have  written. 

It  grew,            ! 

it  has  grown. 

RIGHT. 

I  intended  to  go. 

The  disaster  was  to  be  expected. 

I  knew  that  Tom  went  yester- 
day. 


WRONG. 

I  intended  to  have  gone. 

The  disaster  was  to  have  been 
expected. 

I  knew  that  Tom  has  gone  yester- 
day. 


86  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

RIGHT.  WRONG. 

They  told  Macbeth  he  would  be  They  tell  Macbeth  he  would  be 

king.  king. 

I  thought  I  would  go.  I  thought  I  would  have  gone. 

I  hope  he  will  see  it.  I  hope  he  would  see  it. 

Your  mother  told  you  that  fire  Your  mother  told  you  that  fire 

is  dangerous.  was  dangerous. 

Your  sister  was  surprised  when  Your   sister  would   be   surprised 

you  told  her  the  news.  when  you  told  her  the  news. 

She  has  been  ill  two  months.  She  is  ill  two  months  now. 

If  Mary  had  heard  the  call,  she  If  Mary  would  have  heard  the  call, 

would  have  answered.  she  would  have  answered. 

d.  Use  the  indicative  and  subjunctive  forms,  and  aux- 

iliary verbs  carefully. 

The  indicative  denotes  a  fact. 

The  subjunctive  denotes: 
A  wish. 

0!   That  I  were  in  the  country!     If  only   I 

might  go! 
Condition  contrary  to  fact. 

If  the  ah-  were  clearer,  we  could  see  farther. 
A  supposition  or  conclusion,  regarded  as  untrue 
or  unlikely. 
Were  the  waves  mountain-high,  the  ship  would 

ride  them  safely. 
A  purpose. 

Hurry,  lest  you  be  late. 
A  conceded  supposition. 

I  am  determined  to  win,  hard  though  it  be. 

The  subjunctive  is  falling  into  disuse  in  ordinary 
speech. 

e.  Distinguish  between  shall  and  will,  and  between 

should  and  would. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     87 

Shall  denotes:      Simple  future,  1st  person. 

I  shall  go. 
Promise,  2nd  person. 

You  shall  have  it. 
Command,  2nd  person. 

You  shall  obey. 
Determination,  2nd  and  3rd  persons. 

It  shall  be  done. 
Witt  denotes:       Determination,  1st  person. 

I  will  have  it. 
Promise,  consent,  refusal.     1st  person. 

I  will  buy  it  for  you. 
Simple  future,  2nd  and  3rd  persons. 

You  will  go. 
Should  denotes:  Future,  1st  person. 

I  should  be  glad  to  go. 

Future  time  in  subordinate    clauses    and 
indirect  discourse. 

He  believed  that  he  should  win. 
A  meaning  equivalent  to  the  subjective. 

If  you  should  go,  do  the  errand. 
Duty,  obligation. 

He  should  do  as  he  is  told. 
Would  denotes:    Determination. 

He  would  go,  in  spite  of  us. 
Customary  action. 

They  would  walk  on  fair  days. 
Wish. 

Would  that  it  were  true! 
Promise  or  determination,  in  indirect  dis- 
course. 

She  said  she  would  go. 

Conclusion  in  conditional  sentences,   and 
result  in  subordinate  clauses. 

She  is  so  tall  that  you  would  think  her  older. 

In  interrogative  sentences  shall  or  will  may  be 
used  in  the  second  or  third  persons,  according  to 


88  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  answer  expected,  but  shall  must  be  used  in  the 
first  person. 

To  denote  the  simple  future  use  shall  in  the  first 
person,  mill  in  second  and  third. 

In  a  subordinate  clause  introduced  by  that  use  the 
same  auxiliary  as  though  it  were  an  independent 
sentence. 

In  other  subordinate  clauses  shall  in  all  persons 
denotes  simple  futurity,  will  in  all  persons  implies 
exercise  of  will. 

3.  Be  careful  to  use  the  right  case. 

a.  The  objective  case  should  be  used  as  the  object  of 

a  verb,  after  prepositions,  as  the  subject  of  an 
infinitive,  and  as  objective  complement. 

b.  The  nominative  should  be  used  as  the  subject  of  a 

verb,  and  as  the  subjective  (or  attribute)  comple- 
ment of  incomplete  intransitive  verbs,  such  as  be, 
become,  seem,  and  equivalent  verbs. 

I  don't  known  whom  you  saw.  Jessie,  whom  you  know  to 
be  taller  than  /,  was  between  you  and  me.  It  may  have 
been  she. 

4.  Use  pronouns  correctly. 

a.  Distinguish   clearly   the  use  of  who,  which,  and 

that. 

Who  is  used  only  of  persons,  or  animals  and 
things  personified. 

Which  is  used  of  animals  and  things. 

That  may  be  used  of  either  persons  or  things. 
Sometimes  it  is  used  to  vary  the  sound,  or  when 
both  are  included.  In  most  instances  it  is  prefer- 
able for  introducing  restrictive  clauses. 

b.  Do  not  confuse  pronouns  in  number  and  person: 

RIGHT.  WRONG. 

Everybody  thinks  his  ideas  are  Everybody  thinks  their  ideas  are 

the  best.  the  best. 

As  one  approaches  the  entrance,  When  one  approaches  the  entrance, 

he  can  see  the  fine  statue.  you  can  see  the  fine  statue. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     89 


5.  Do  not  confuse  adjectives  and  adverbs. 


RIGHT. 
He  felt  bad. 
He  went  slowly. 


WRONG. 
He  felt  badly. 
He  went  slow. 


Most  of  the  people  were  on  the    Mostly  all  the  people  were  on  the 


way  home. 


way  home. 


6.  Do  not  confuse  or  misuse  the  comparative  and  super- 
lative. 


RIGHT. 
It  is  an  extreme  case. 

That  is  the  better  of  the  two. 

He  is  taller  than  any  of  his 
brothers. 

She  was  brighter  than  any 
other  girl  in  school. 

It  was  harder  to  study  her  les- 
son than  it  was  to  skate. 


WRONG. 
It  is  the  most  extreme  case. 

(Double  superlative.) 
That  is  the  best  of  the  two. 
He  is  the  tallest  of  his  brothers. 


She  was  brighter  than  any  girl  in 
school. 

Her  lesson  was  harder  than  skat- 
ing. 

(Trying  to  compare  what  cannot 
be  compared.) 

7.  Use  the  right  preposition. 

a.  Insert  another  preposition  if  necessary,  or  rear- 
range the  sentence. 


WRONG. 
It  is  as  good  or  better  than  this. 


RIGHT. 
It  is  as  good  as,  or  better  than, 

this. 
It  is  at  least  as  good  as  this. 

b.  Choose  the  preposition  that  has  become  idiomatic 
with  a  certain  word:  Different  from,  not  than; 
agree  with  or  to  according  to  meaning;  comply 
with;  taste  of  or  for,  according  to  meaning;  stay 


90  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

at,  not  to;  lives  at  or  in,  as  meant;  fell  into; 
marched  in  the  ranks;  went  into  the  city;  dis- 
appointed in  or  because  of.  Dependent  on;  con- 
form to;  between  two,  but  among  many;  resem- 
blance to;  fear  of,  considerate  of,  compatible 
with. 

c.  Do  not  use  unnecessary  prepositions. 

RIGHT.  WRONG. 

He  was  between  the  pillars.         He  was  in  between  the  pillers. 
The  dog  was  behind  the  chair.     The  dog  was  in  behind  the  chair. 
She  followed  her  sister.  She  followed  after  her  sister. 

They  mingled  with  the  people.    They  mixed  in  with  the  people. 
John  met  his  friend  at  the  corner.  John  met  with  his  friend  at  the 

corner. 

She  rose  from  her  chair.  She  rose  up  out  of  her  chair. 

They  selected  the  garments  they  They  selected  out  the  garments. 

wanted. 
I  wondered  whence  the  sound    I    wondered    from    whence    the 

came.  sound  came. 

She  accepted  the  gift.  She  accepted  of  the  gift. 

d.  Do  not  use  prepositions  for  verb  forms. 

RIGHT.  WRONG. 

She  could  have  gone.  She  could  of  gone. 

It  must  have  happened  last  It  must  of  happened  last  week. 

week. 

The  rumor  seems  to  have  been  The  rumor  seems  to  of  been  true. 

true. 

E.    Rules  for  securing  euphony  or  harmony  in  sentences. 

1.  Avoid  disagreeable  combinations  of  sounds,  or  words 

hard   to   pronounce   distinctly,   such   as   ruggedest, 
lovedst,  indubitably. 

2.  Avoid  the  frequent  repetition  of  sounds:     I  said  that 

that  was  what  I  wanted;  it  was  in  interesting  form. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     91 

3.  Select  smooth,  harmonious  words,  especially  those  with 

liquid  and  vowel  sounds. 

4.  Try  to  use  words  that  suggest  the  sense,  or  at  least 

seem  suited  to  it.    Sinuous,  jagged,  hiss,  fluent,  whiz, 
and  titter  are  such  words. 

5.  Arrange  the  words  so  that  the  sentence  has  rhythm, 

though  not  so  regular  as  to  suggest  scansion  and 
cadence. 

F.  Rules  for  securing  variety  in  sentences. 

1.  Vary  the  length  of  sentences. 

2.  Use  sentences  of  different  grammatical  and  rhetorical 

form. 

a.  Use  the  interrogative  and  exclamatory  forms  occa- 

sionally, but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  suggest 
affectation,  or  so  frequently  as  to  make  either 
seem  a  characteristic  of  your  style.  Either  form 
soon  becomes  monotonous. 

b.  Use  most  the  periodic  sentence,  which  holds  the 

main  thought  in  suspense  till  the  close. 

After  everything  has  been  admitted  as  to  the  respon- 
sibility either  of  society  in  general  or  of  one's  parents, 
it  is  upon  one's  own  self,  and  nowhere  else,  that  the 
real  responsibility  for  right  living  must  rest. 

c.  Sometimes  the  loose  sentence  may  be  used.    This  is 

so  constructed  that  it  may  be  brought  to  a  close 
in  two  or  more  places,  and  yet  make  complete 
sense. 

The  boy  opened  the  door,  saw  the  engine  going  down 
the  street,  rushed  after  it,  and  reached  the  fire  in  a 
few  moments. 

d.  Use  the  balanced  sentence.    This  is  made  up  of  two 

members  that  are  similar  in  form,  but  con- 
trasted in  meaning. 

To  err  is  human;  to  forgive,  divine. 

3.  Vary  the  order  of  the  elements  of  sentences. 

4.  Avoid  frequent  repetition  of  words  or  expressions, 


92  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

G.    Rules  governing  the  use  of  figures  of  speech. 

The  modern  tendency  in  public  speaking  is  toward  sim- 
plicity and  conciseness.  Therefore,  the  old  style  of  oratory 
often  seems  to  us  not  only  florid  and  ornate,  but  affected 
and  bombastic.  Perhaps  we  have  gone  too  far  to  the  other 
extreme.  The  use  of  figurative  language  often  aids  greatly. 
Not  only  does  it  add  the  element  of  the  poetic,  but  it  makes 
the  image  more  vivid,  the  idea  more  clear.  Then,  too,  it 
increases  emphasis  by  giving  the  hearer  some  comparison 
that  he  remembers  long  after  the  bare  statement  or  argu- 
ment has  faded  from  his  mind.  A  figure  of  speech  is  an 
expression  not  literal,  but  suggestive.  The  speaker  says 
one  thing  and  means  another. 

Figures  of  speech  may  be  divided  into  classes. 

1.  Those  which  aid  clearness  through  comparison  or  con- 
trast. 

a.  Likeness. 

1.  Personification. 

The  sky  was  sullen.    The  earth  heard. 

2.  Metaphor. 

A  cloud  of  trouble  came  upon  him.  (Likeness  im- 
plied.) 

3.  Simile. 

Trouble  came  upon  him  as  a  cloud. 

b.  Contrast. 

1.  Antithesis,  a  sharp  contrast. 

War  injures,  by  destroying  resources;  peace  benefits, 
by  building  up  prosperity. 

2.  Irony — meaning  the  opposite  of  what  is  said. 

Certainly  Miss  Herne,  who  last  week  paid  only 
eight  hundred  dollars  for  three  simple  dresses,  is 
qualified  to  prove  that  a  working-girl  can  dress 
well  for  eight  dollars  a  month. 

3.  Litotes — denying  the  opposite. 

These  are  not  made  to  last  but  a  day. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     93 

(4)  Epigram — the  terse,  pithy  expression  of  truths,  so 
worded  that  there  is  apparent  contradiction. 

"A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 

2.    Those  that  suggest,  through  association  of  ideas,  the 
real  meaning. 

a.  Hyperbole,  or  exaggeration. 

A  nation  mourned  his  loss. 

b.  Metonymy,  or  change  of  name. 

We  all  read  Dickens.  (Name  of  author  for  his 
works.)  The  kettle  boils.  (Container  for  thing 
contained.)  The  bench  and  the  pulpit  protested. 
(Sign  for  thing  signified.)  Capital  and  labor  are 
in  conflict.  (Abstraction  for  concrete.) 

c.  Allusion — to  the  Bible,  to  mythology,  to  history,  to 

science. 

It  was  a  reign  of  terror  in  financial  circles. 

The  Jasons  of  modem  times  often  find  their  quest 

vain. 

d.  Interrogation — the  asking  of  questions  to  which  no 

answer  is  expected. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  in  the  use  of  figures  lest  they 
weaken  instead  of  strengthen.  It  is  not  wise  to  prolong  a 
figure  too  far  lest  the  hearer  be  put  under  too  great  a 
strain.  Trite  figures  are  useless.  Comparison  with  un- 
familiar things  only  puzzles.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most 
frequent  mistakes  is  the  mixing  of  figures. 

Exercise  IX. 

Form  a  sentence  of  about  ten  words.  Express  the  same 
idea  in  as  many  ways  as  possible. 

Form  a  simple  sentence.  Add  as  much  as  you  can  with- 
out violating  unity  or  good  sentence  structure. 

Put  the  following  together  in  as  many  ways  as  possible: 

1.  Godfrey  Cass  had  a  horse.    It  was  a  good  horse.    It  was  called 
Wildfire.    He  also  had  a  brother.   That  brother  was  called 


94  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Dunstan.  He  was  mean  and  spiteful.  Dunstan  had  bor- 
rowed some  money  of  Godfrey.  This  belonged  to  their 
father.  Godfrey  needed  it  to  pay  back.  He  was  forced  to 
sell  Wildfire.  He  disliked  doing  so. 

2.  Goldsmith  was  a  laughing-stock.    He  was  simple  and  credu- 

lous. He  was  good-natured  and  lovable.  He  could  talk 
entertainingly.  He  was  welcomed  everywhere.  He  had 
many  friends.  They  all  loved  him. 

3.  I  walked  along  the  street  one  day.    I  was  in  the  shopping 

district.  It  was  a  cold  day.  It  was  late  in  December.  I 
saw  a  small  boy.  He  was  ragged  and  dirty.  He  was  look- 
ing in  a  shop  window.  It  was  full  of  sleds  and  skates. 

Exercise  X. 

Correct  the  following  sentences,  taken  from  pupils' 
speech  and  writing,  and  give  reason  for  each  change.  Some 
sentences  contain  several  faults. 

1.  In  that  store  around  the  corner  there  stood  a  pretty  sewing 
outfit.  Quite  wonderful  it  seemed  to  Nana.  And  when  she  thought 
of  the  many  things  she  could  make  and  she  could  help  Mama  if 
she  only  had  it,  she  determined  to  procure  it  at  any  cost.  It  was 
quite  cheap  and  Nana  thought  of  ways  and  means  to  earn  money 
for  it. 

2.  He  saw  that  unless  relief  would  come  soon,  he  must  give  up 
his  watch. 

3.  She  obtained  the  position,  and,  in  a  short  time,  her  mistress 
became  attached  to  her,  and  often  remarked  the  resemblance  be- 
tween her  and  her  little  daughter  whom  she  had  supposed  was  lost 
at  sea. 

4.  Waiting  for  a  car  at  Broadway,  it  was  quite  some  tune  before 
one  came  and  then  it  went  past  us  without  stopping. 

5.  So,  without  any  more  decision,  he  ran  to  his  room,  calling  the 
rest  of  us  out  of  bed  and  getting  his  rifle  was  prepared  for  the  worst. 

6.  The  woman  only  was  trained  on  household  arts. 

7.  If  he  didn't  bring  up  Eppie,  people  wouldn't  have  pitied  him. 

8.  Every  one  of  his  ambitions  were  founded  on  her. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     95 

9.  We  saw,  standing  in  the  doorway,  a  boy  about  ten  years  old. 
digging  his  fists  in  his  eyes,  who  was  crying  loudly. 

10.  Oh,  we  have  him  a  long  tune,  that  lazy  fellow. 

11.  When  we  use  the  basis  of  association  of  ideas,  you  use  things 
in  their  regular  order. 

12.  As  one  must  some  day  try  their  skill  in  one  of  the  industrial 
arts,  and  as  dressmaking  is  a  very  useful  one,  I  thought  of  making 
a  shirtwaist. 

13.  History  is  both  very  beneficial  as  a  source  of  education  and 
knowledge,  for  in  the  tune  of  our  forefathers  there  were  no  histories 
at  all. 

14.  His  fathers  would  have  turned  him  off  had  he  told  him  of  his 
marriage  and  Nancy  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him  had  he 
told  her. 

15.  This  girl,  Lydia  Randon,  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  about  five 
feet  and  possessed  a  very  sweet  disposition  which  fact  made  her 
popular  everywhere. 

16.  So  it  is  easy  to  be  seen  that  Lydia  did  not  spend  all  her  time 
with  her  books. 

17.  She  had  always  regarded  it  as  something  that,  though  she 
would  like  to  get  it  very  much,  she  should  soon  get  over  the  disap- 
pointment if  she  did  not  get  it. 

18.  But  he  had  no  such  intention  hi  view. 

19.  Tearing  off  his  waist  and  jacket,  holding  them  over  the  flame, 
he  immediately  caught  the  blaze,  with  the  burning  fragments 
waving  hi  the  air,  he  mounted  the  rock  and  cried  "stop!  stop! 
danger! 

20.  But  no,  his  heroism  was  not  done  hi  vain. 

21.  The  two  stole  stealthily  down  the  stairs. 

22.  Jack  rode  at  full  speed  and  after  a  long  tune,  and  after  hard 
work  on  the  part  of  Jack,  he  caught  up  to  the  engine  in  which  poor 
little  Grace  was. 

23.  But  now  her  grief  must  begin  again  for  they  had  arrived  at, 
the  palace  of  the  prince,  the  story-teller  then  left  her  and  was  soon 
to  meet  her  future  husband. 

24.  When  I  set  out  for  home,  nothing  seemed  apparently  amiss 
with  Wotan,  who  would  now  and  then  stop  to  play  in  the  road. 


96  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

25.  I  quick  took  to  my  heels,  but  he  was  at  me,  attempting  to 
attack  me. 

26.  Meanwhile  Wotan  had  become  exhausted  and  went  in  back 
of  the  house. 

27.  The  animal  had  succumbed  from  a  fit  brought  on  by  excessive 
heat. 

28.  The  work  was  too  hard  for  the  weavers,  so  again  they  went 
to  look  for  ways  and  means  to  make  the  weaving  easier. 

29.  And  there  was  a  man  named  Arkwright,  he  was  himself  a 
weaver,  and  he  said  the  weaving  was  too  hard. 

30.  There  was  a  man  named ,  he  was  very  timid,  and 

afraid  of  people,  and  he  used  to  work  at  night  to  improve  the 
machinery. 

31.  The  opium  finally  got  the  best  of  Molly. 

32.  A  huge  cathedral  was  erected  there  in  the  twelfth  century 
and  it  is  remarkable  for  its  wonderful  sculpture. 

33.  I  think  that  if  he  would  have  told  Nancy,  she  would  have  had 
too  much  pride  to  marry  him. 

34.  I  saw  him  walking  along  the  street  on  my  way  to  school. 

35.  Antony  is  speaking  over  Caesar's  body  after   Brutus  had 
delivered  his  oration. 

36.  He  thinks  Brutus  is  the  most  brave  and  finest  Roman  of 
them  all. 

37.  The  banks  are  low  and  numerous  trees  and  bushes  are  growing 
there. 

38.  The  darkness  startled  us,  *he  com  was  tall  and  dense. 

39.  I   suppose  it  wanted  to  be  shown  how  anxious  Godfrey 
was   to  learn  whether  his  wife  died  or  whether  she  was   still 
living. 

40.  Nobody  knew  about  this  marriage  except  Dunstan,  and  he 
always  bribed  him  not  to  tell. 

41.  And  then  Godfrey,  in  the  chapter  before,  we  are  told  how 
anxious  he  was  to  be  together  with  Nancy. 

42.  Perhaps  Nancy  would  have  forgiven  Godfrey  if  he  would 
have  told  her  of  his  marriage. 

43.  When  ushered  into  her  presence,  she  was  soon  followed  by  a 
confidant. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     97 

44.  When  he  saw  her  he  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  all  through  the 
trial  he  was  on  her  side  and  she  won. 

45.  He  afterward  called  on  her  and  her  maid  talked  in  a  sarcastic 
manner  and  he  never  went  there  again. 

46.  She  was  much  admired  by  all  the  men  but  did  not  even  glance 
at  them  but  when  Sir  Roger  came  hi  he  thought  she  looked  at 
him  and  fell  in  love  with  her. 

47.  He  was  in  love  with  a  certain  widow,  who  was  very  highly 
educated  and  all  the  men  were  in  love  of  her. 

48.  Others,  who  have  done  good  daily  work,  but  because  they 
become  nervous  and  excited  forget  all  they  ever  knew  and  fail 
in  the  examination. 

49.  Will  Wimble  was  a  very  peculiar  man,  he  was  the  younger 
son  of  a  noble.     He  had  no  trade,  he  had  a  taste  for  trading  but  he 
did  not  do  it  because  a  baronet's  son  was  supposed  to  learn  either 
to  be  a  physician,  a  lawyer  or  a  clergy  and  as  he  had  no  taste  for 
it,  he  knew  nothing. 

50.  Her  name  was  Moll  White,  and  Addison  was  told  that  Moll 
White  was  a  witch. 

51.  Who  did  you  go  to  the  party  with?    I  wished  I  could  have 
gone.    Perhaps  I  will  get  to  go  to  the  next  one. 

52.  Between  you  and  I,  I  think  she  was  very  foolish  to  stay,  so 
soaking  wet.    She  might  of  gone  home  along  of  me. 

53.  Walking  north  on  Broadway,  electric  signs  were  able  to  be 
seen.  .  .  .  As  we  were  going  in  the  same  direction,  we  did  not  have 
to  wait,  which  did  not  often  happen. 

Exercise  XL 

Study  the  following  sentences  taken  from  public  speeches. 
If  they  are  good,  why?  Is  there  any  art  in  arrangement, 
method  of  statement,  etc.?  Select  those  containing  figures 
of  speech.  Try  to  improve  the  sentences. 

1.  Twenty-four  years  ago  he  placed  upon  the  statute  books  of 
his  state  a  law  guarding  the  secrets  of  the  ballot. 

2.  I  go  on  the  ground  that  this  Constitution  was  made  by  the 
states;  that  it  is  a  federal  union  of  the  states,  in  which  the  several 
states  still  retain  their  sovereignty. 


98  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

3.  Does  any  man  in  his  senses  believe  that  this  beautiful  struc- 
ture— this  harmonious  aggregate  of  states,  produced  by  the  joint 
consent  of  all — can  be  preserved  by  force? 

4.  Disguise  it  as  you  may,  the  controversy  is  one  between  power 
and  liberty;  and  I  tell  the  gentlemen  who  are  opposed  to  me  that, 
strong  as  may  be  the  love  of  power  on  their  side,  the  love  of  liberty 
is  still  stronger  on  ours. 

5.  Just  as  his  earlier  career  at  home  was  coincident  with  the  rapid 
internal  development  of  the  Dominion,  so  his  later  career  as  Cana- 
dian plenipotentiary  to  the  mother  country  coincided  with  the 
strengthening  of  Imperial  sentiment  which  has  been  so  notable  a 
phenomenon  of  recent  Canadian  growth. 

6.  Indeed,  eloquence,  learning,  talents,  genius,  courage,  all  com- 
bined do  not  make  a  leader. 

7.  That  relief  from  past  conditions  was  needed  cannot  be  denied. 

8.  The  iron  hand  alone  is  powerless  against  an  awakened  and 
insistent  nation;  the  great,  strong,  human  hand  alone  can  control 
and  bring  order  out  of  disorder,  bring  harmony  and  good  feeling 
out  of  bitterness  and  danger. 

9.  With  everything  to  make  us  happy  and  everything  to  make  us 
confident  of  the  future,  with  everything  to  inspire  us  with  trust  in 
our  government,  ourselves,  and  our  future,  and  with  everything  to 
make  us  contented  and  happy,  we  are  restless,  uneasy,  discontented, 
unhappy,  suspicious,  and  intolerant.    We  are  engaged  in  a  saturna- 
lia of  vituperation.    Justice  and  fair  dealing  are  thrown  to  the 
winds.    Appeals  to  passion  and  prejudice  displace  reason  and  logic. 

10.  We  speak  not  only  for  a  party,  but  for  a  nation,  for  mankind 
and  for  history. 

11.  Nominate  him,  and  the  platform,  instead  of  being  so  much 
party  declaration,  will  become  the  creed  of  a  waiting  people. 

12.  While  industry  is  suspended,  while  the  plough  lies  in  the  fur- 
row, while  the  Exchange  is  silent,  while  no  smoke  arises  from  the 
factory,  a  process  is  going  on  quite  as  important  to  the  wealth  of 
nations  as  any  process  which  is  performed  on  more  busy  days. 

13.  In  our  colonies  the  state  does  much  for  the  support  of  religion; 
but  in  no  colony,  I  believe,  do  we  give  exclusive  support  to  the 
religion  of  the  minority. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     99 

14.  We   are  against  crooked  business,    big  or  little;  we  are  in 
favor  of  honest  business,  big  or  little. 

15.  Young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  grave  and  gay,  ceased  for  a 
moment  their  pursuit  of  pleasure,  their  quest  of  wealth,  their  con- 
templation of  sorrow,  to  bow  their  heads  in  memory  of  the  mar- 
tyred President. 

16.  He  does  not  cling  to  a  thing  simply  because  it  is  hoary  with 
age.    Neither  will  he  embrace  one  because  it  is  new. 

17.  Sixteen  years  this  partnership  has  levied  tribute  under  the 
forms  of  law.    It  has  taxed  the  crust  upon  the  lips  of  hunger.    It 
has  filched  from  the  pockets  of  poverty. 

18.  Not  hi  Washington  nor  in  the  customs,  but  with  ourselves, 
is  the  best  protection  found. 

19.  Stability  hi  foreign  markets  depends  largely  on  ability  in 
home  ones. 

20.  The  place  for  narrow  men  is  in  ruts;  for  dead  men,  in  graves. 

21.  A  Bourbon  superintendent  who  can't  learn  is  bad  but  no 
worse  than  a  Bourbon  employer  who  won't  learn. 

22.  He  can  counsel  without  haughtiness  and  reprove  without 
scorn.    He  fears  no  man's  censure,  but  inspires  every  man's  respect. 

23.  Further,  this  is  no  building  up  of  a  legal  ecclesiasticism,  this 
is  no  piling  up  of  a  great  supreme  court  which  will  wrap  its  robes 
around  itself  and  look  with  great  amazement  upon  the  great  mass 
of  the  Church  that  will  appeal  co  it  for  help.     It  is  nothing  of  the 
kind.    The  men  who  are  in  the  business  of  formulating  this  are  not 
legalistic  men,  they  are  not  ecclesiastical  legalists,  they  are  not 
dreamers  of  ecclesiastical  empires,  but  they  are  as  spiritual  men  as 
anybody  in  this  building.    They  are  men  who  are  hi  the  prayer 
meeting,  they  are  men  who  are  in  the  slums,  they  are  men  who  can 
step  out  of  their  office  and  kneel  down  with  the  penitent  on  the  curb- 
stone, or  behind  the  door  of  the  big  church,  or  in  the  slimy  slums  of 
the  big  cities  and  lead  men  to  God. 

24.  What  manner  of  man,  then,  shall  this  convention  raise  up 
to  be  its  standard  bearer?    He  should  have  had  political  training 
and  experience,  for  these  are  almost  as  essential  qualifications  in 
a  nominee  for  the  Presidency  as  are  the  clinic  and  classroom  for 


100  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  physician  and  surgeon.  Without  any  pretentious  parade  of 
the  virtue,  he  should  be  progressively  conservative  and  conservative- 
ly progressive.  He  must  be  well  balanced,  thoughtful,  delibera- 
tive, and  yet,  in  ability  to  inspire  enthusiasm  among  his  fellows, 
be  a  natural  leader  of  men. 

25.  Countless  are  the  voices  that  have  enriched  our  air  of  earth, 
but  they  have  grown  faint  with  the  centuries. 

26.  The  sweetest  harmonies  come  from  the  lives  that  have  had 
the  most  tuning. 

27.  Politics  will  not  interfere  with  business  when  politics  ceases 
to  be  business. 

28.  Man,  the  machine  of  machines,  compared  with  which  all 
the  contrivances  of  the  Watts  and  the  Arkwrights  are  worthless, 
is  repairing  and  winding  up,  so  that  he  returns  to  his  labors  on  the 
Monday  with  clearer  intellect,  with  livelier  spirit,  with  renewed  cor- 
poral vigor. 

29.  Fighters  hi  the  world's  arena  must  lay  aside  every  weight 
and  the  habits  of  thought  and  traditions  that  so  easily  beset  them, 
and  with  keen  self-training  address  themselves  to  the  contest. 

30.  The  newspaper  is  manufactured  out  of  the  subtlest,  most 
volatile,  most  elusive  raw  material  in  the  world — the  truth. 

31.  The  Nun's  Priest's  Tale  shows  Chaucerian  wit  at  its  best, 
as  brilliant  and  delicate  as  the  flash  of  a  humming  bird. 

32.  In  the  chemistry  of  the  English  language,  Latin  is  the  chief 
element. 

33.  Use  the  short,  sharp,  crisp  Anglo-Saxon  words,  that  have  the 
snap  and  sparkle  and  energy  of  electricity. 

34.  The  copyreader  must  be  able  to  apply  sandpaper  to  the 
bodily  excrescences,  but  not  to  the  soul  of  the  narrative. 

35.  Don't  use  slang  unless  you  have  the  keen  apprehension  to 
select  from  the  slang  of  to-day  what  will  be  the  idiom  of  to-morrow. 

36.  Dr.  Carrel  has  caused  mankind  to  take  one  step  farther  on 
the  long  road  of  the  Holy  Grail  of  knowledge. 

37.  He  is  a  knight  worthy  to  sit  at  King  Arthur's  Round  Table. 
There  is  no  man,  I  believe,  in  this  great  assembly,  that  could  dust 
his  sword  or  unhorse  him  in  this  great  battle. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    101 

38.  We  shall,  then,  enter  the  holy  place  of  moral  obligation  by 
passing  through  the  outer  court  of  physical  obligation. 

39.  Whatever  talents  may  be,  if  the  man  create  not,  the  pure 
efflux  of  the  deity  is  not  his;  cinders  and  smoke  there  may  be,  but 
not  yet  flame. 

40.  Great  Britain  and  Spain  hold  the  keys  of  the  Mediterranean. 

41.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  prose  writings  of  Milton  should 
be  so  little  read.   .    .    .  They  are  a  perfect  field  of  cloth  of  gold. 
The  style  is  stiff  with  gorgeous  embroidery. 

42.  We  wish  that  in  those  days  of  disaster,  which,  as  they  come 
on  all  nations,  must  be  expected  to  come  on  us  also,  desponding 
patriotism  may  turn  its  eyes  hitherward,  and  be  assured  that  the 
foundations  of  our  national  power  still  stand  strong. 

43.  Our  brethren  are  already  in  the  field.    Why  stand  we  here 
idle?    What  is  it  that  the  gentlemen  wish?    What  would  they  have? 
Is  life  so  dear,  is  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of 
slavery?    Forbid   it,   almighty  God.    I   know  not  what  course 
others  may  take,  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death. 

THE  USE  OF  WORDS. 

You  are  all  familiar  with  the  Biblical  story  of  the  con- 
fusion of  tongues  following  the  building  of  the  tower  of 
Babel.  Modern  scholarship  has  shown  that  there  may 
have  been  some  time  when  only  one  language  existed. 
Comparison  of  various  languages  shows  that  there  is  some 
relation.  The  word  meaning  the  same  as  our  word  father 
may  illustrate  this:  Sanskrit,  pitar;  Greek,  irony/a ; 
Latin,  pater;  Gothic,  fadar;  Old  French,  pedre;  French, 
pere;  Old  Irish,  athir;  Italian  and  Spanish,  padre;  Pro- 
venc,al,  paire;  German,  Vater;  Icelandic,  fa£ir. 

The  numerals,  all  ten,  may  be  traced  in  much  the  same 
way:  Sanskrit,  trayas;  Greek,  Tp«s;  Gothic,  freis;  Latin, 
tres;  French,  trois;  Danish  and  Swedish,  tre;  English, 
three;  German,  drei. 


102  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

More  than  a  hundred  roots  of  Sanskrit,  a  very  old  lan- 
guage of  the  Hindoos,  have  been  found  by  Professor  Au- 
gust Fick  to  be  represented  by  common  words  in  many 
European  languages,  especially  English. 

Various  theories  have  been  brought  forth  to  show  how 
language  became  differentiated.  Twenty-five  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  the  differences  must  have  been  greater 
than  those  now  between  French  and  Spanish  or  Italian. 


Therefore,  the  period  of  common  speech  must  have  been 
many  thousands  of  years  before.  Some  think  various  races 
were  of  common  descent.  Others  believe  that  wandering 
tribes  may  have  mutually  adapted  their  speech.  Some  think 
conquest,  or  commercial  relations,  might  account  for  like- 
nesses. Certainly,  all  these  factors  may  have  affected  our 
language. 

There  are  at  least  a  hundred  families  of  languages,  of 
which  four  have  been  carefully  studied,  among  them  the 
Semitic,  to  which  Arabic  and  Hebrew  belong,  and  the  Indo- 
European,  to  which  the  various  European  languages  be- 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    103 

TEUTONIC 


0600J 


long.  This  last  has  eight  branches,  of  which  Teutonic  is 
one.  Teutonic  is  divided  into  three  parts,  each  subdivided. 
If  you  look  at  the  diagrams,*  you  will  see  how  English  is 
related  to  the  others. 

*  From  History  of  the  English  language,  O.  F.  Emerson.  The  Mac- 
millan  Company. 


104  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

There  were  several  reasons  for  the  differentiation.  In 
early  days  tribes  wandered.  They  not  only  lost  contact 
with  old  associates,  but  met  others  from  whom  they  learned 
new  words  and  different  pronunciations.  The  members  of 
a  clan  or  tribe,  a  large  family  group,  developed  manner- 
isms, through  imitation  of  each  other  and  lack  of  good 
models,  to  such  a  degree  that  their  speech  was  noticeably 
different  from  that  of  other  groups.  The  climate  also  af- 
fected speech,  especially  in  some  regions.  There  was  no 
printing.  A  few  persons,  after  written  signs  were  invented 
in  each  group,  spent  their  time  copying  manuscripts.  They 
made  mistakes  or  deliberate  changes,  which  were  perpetu- 
ated by  later  copyists.  Since  very  few  could  read,  and 
since  few  followed  strict  rules  of  pronunciation  or  even 
spoke  distinctly,  there  were  no  effective  checks  to  the 
leveling  of  vowel  sounds  and  inflections.  The  speech  of  the 
higher  classes  and  of  the  dwellers  in  cities  kept  more  closely 
to  the  literary  standard,  but  that  of  the  lower  classes  and 
country  people  varied  greatly. 

There  were  changes  of  pronunciation  due  to  the  shifting 
of  the  accent.  Computo  became  compute,  finally  compt. 
Final  consonants  and  even  middle  ones  were  dropped. 
Corpus  became  corpo.  Vowels  were  changed  or  dropped 
after  slurring  for  years.  Convento  became  convent.  Cleri- 
cum  was  changed  to  clercum,  then  to  clerc.  Our  British 
brothers  pronounce  clerk  as  if  it  were  spelled  clark.  Our 
word  day  has  had,  among  others,  the  forms  dah,  dags,  d&g, 
tag. 

After  much  investigation,  the  students  of  language 
learned  that  the  changes  which  took  place  followed  certain 
general  laws.  It  was  found  that,  under  certain  conditions, 
the  vowels  of  one  group  of  languages  changed  to  others,  as 
a  to  o,  or  that  the  quantity  changed.  Two  great  consonant 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    105 

shiftings  were  discovered,  by  which  b  became  p,  p  became 
/,  d  became  t,  and  so  on.  Thus  the  sounds  changed  from 
the  earlier  Indo-European  to  the  Teutonic.  Then,  in  the 
Old  High  German  period,  there  was  a  second  shifting  of 
consonants,  though  the  West  Germanic,  from  which  Eng- 
lish is  descended,  did  not  have  this.  Perhaps  you  will  see 
that  the  Latin  decem,  the  Gothic  taihun,  German  zehn, 
and  English  ten  are  really  the  same.  So,  too,  we  can  show 
that  cors  (cordis),  hair  to,  herz,  and  heart  are  the  same. 

But  there  were  also  great  changes  in  form.  The  full 
inflection  of  verbs  was  gradually  lessened,  sometimes 
dropped.  Case  endings  disappeared,  so  that  the  forms 
showed  often  no  distinction.  The  conjugation  or  declension 
of  any  common  verb  or  noun  can  be  traced  through  vari- 
ous languages,  to  illustrate  how  one  letter  after  another 
was  dropped,  till  such  simple  forms  as  those  of  modern 
French  or  English  were  left.  Prefixes  and  suffixes  were 
frequently  added,  thus  forming  new  words.  New  com- 
pounds were  formed.  You  know,  if  you  study  German, 
how  many  there  are  in  that  language.  You  know  that,  in 
our  own,  such  a  word  as  saleswoman  was  formed  in  just 
this  way.  Underbid  is  a  verb  illustrating  the  same  method. 

Some  kinds  of  words,  such  as  prepositions,  adverbs,  and 
conjunctions,  were  used  more,  and  pronouns  were  not  only 
used  where  they  had  formerly  been  thought  unnecessary, 
but  developed  new  forms. 

These  great  changes  went  on  through  ages,  when  history 
was  not  yet  written  of  these  things.  Scholars  have  had 
to  reconstruct  the  probable  forms  according  to  the  laws 
formulated  from  known  forms.  But  our  mother  tongue, 
gradually  forming  late  in  the  world's  history,  has  gone 
through  not  only  such  changes  as  have  been  mentioned,  but 
other  modifications  as  well.  It  is  a  hybrid,  not  only  show- 


106  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

ing  the  traces  of  ordinary  use  by  the  unlettered  people, 
but  adopting  and  modifying  words  from  other  languages. 

In  prehistoric  times,  the  people  who  dwelt  in  the  British 
Isles  spoke  forms  of  Celtic.  Some  spoke  Cymric  or  what 
is  now  known  as  Welsh.  This  survived  in  some  localities. 
Others  spoke  Cornish,  a  form  that  died  out  only  about  a 
century  ago.  The  Breton  language  was  carried  over  to 
the  north  of  France,  and  is  still  used  in  Brittany.  These 
were  all  divisions  of  the  Britannic,  but  there  was  another 
used  in  the  islands,  that  branch  of  Celtic  called  Gaelic,  to 
which  belong  Irish,  Scottish,  and  Manx.  In  these  exist 
writings  of  the  eighth  and  later  centuries.  You  may  have 
heard  of  the  recent  attempts  to  revive  Gaelic.  It  is  still 
spoken  in  some  of  the  interior  districts  of  Scotland  and 
Ireland.  Very  few  of  the  words  from  these  Celtic  lan- 
guages found  a  permanent  place  in  English,  but  some  are 
still  common:  brat,  mattock,  clan,  glen,  brogue,  bog,  sham- 
rock, cairn,  crag,  slogan,  and  whiskey. 

As  you  know,  the  Romans  occupied  Britain  for  several 
centuries,  early  in  the  Christian  era.  But  they  seem  not 
to  have  left  much  effect  on  the  language.  Some  scholars 
think  that  chalk,  kettle,  mint,  and  crisp  were  modifications 
of  Latin  words,  through  Old  English. 

In  449  A.  D.  that  invasion  took  place  which  was  to  de- 
termine the  language  of  Britain  for  all  time,  probably,  the 
coming  of  the  Jutes  to  Kent.  Later  came  the  Saxons  and, 
to  the  North,  the  Angles.  These  tribes  spoke  dialects  of 
Low  German,  a  division  of  the  West  Germanic  branch  of 
Teutonic.  In  the  North  there  were  two  dialects  among  the 
Angles.  Here  in  Northumbria  poets  sang,  and  their  words 
were  written  down.  One  man,  Bede,  wrote  a  church  his- 
tory. By  the  eighth  century,  there  was  something  to  act 
as  a  preservative  force.  After  871,  the  West  Saxon  dialect 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    107 

became  as  a  result  of  conquest  the  standard.  Then  under 
the  influence  of  Alfred  considerable  prose  was  written,  and 
the  poetry  of  the  North  reproduced  in  the  West  Saxon 
dialect. 

This  literary  language  was  highly  developed,  or,  per- 
haps we  should  say,  it  had  not  yet  been  simplified.  The 
nouns  had  five  cases,  comprising  six  different  declensional 
forms,  for  both  numbers,  sometimes  more.  Adjectives  were 
fully  declined,  for  all  cases,  in  masculine,  feminine  and 
neuter.  God,  or  good,  had  ten  forms.  Pronouns  were  de- 
clined in  singular,  dual,  and  plural,  some  cases  having 
three  forms  for  the  same  number  and  gender.  Verbs  were 
conjugated  as  weak  in  three  classes,  and  as  strong,  with 
six  classes,  some  with  subdivisions.  Those  of  you  who 
have  difficulty  in  remembering  principal  parts  of  German 
verbs  may  be  glad  you  do  not  have  Old  English  with 
which  to  struggle.  Not  only  the  indicative  and  imperative 
moods,  but  the  optative  as  well,  had  forms. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  compare  the  following  trans- 
lation of  part  of  Chapter  IV  of  the  gospel  of  St.  Mark  with 
that  of  the  King  James  or  the  Revised  Version. 

And  eft  he  ongan  hi  aet  thaere  sae  laeran.  And  him  waes  my  eel 
menegu  to  gegaderod,  swa  thset  he  on  scip  eode,  and  on  thaere  SSB 
waes;  and  eall  seo  menegu  ymbe  tha  sse  waeron  on  lande.  And  he 
fela  on  bigspellum  laerde,  and  him  to  qwaeth  on  his  lare,  Gehyrath; 
Ut  eode  se  saedere  his  saed  to  sawenne.  And  tha  he  seow,  sum  feoll 
with  thone  weg,  and  fugelas  comon  and  hit  fraeton.  Sum  feoll 
ofer  stanscyligean,  thar  hit  naefde  mycele  eorthan  and  sona  up  eode, 
and  for  tham  hit  naefde  eorthan  thiccnesse,  tha  hit  up  eode,  seo 
sunne  hit  forswaelde,  and  hit  forscranc,  for  tham  hit  wyrtruman 
naefde.  And  sum  feoll  on  thornas;  tha  stigon  tha  thornas  and  forth- 
rysmodon  paet,  and  hit  waestm  ne  baer.  And  sum  feoll  on  god  land, 
and  hit  sealde  uppstigendne  and  wexendne  waestm;  and  an  brohte 
thritigfealdne,  sum  syxtigfealdne,  sum  hundfealdne.  And  he  cwaeth, 
Gehyre  se  the  earan  haebbe  to  gehyranne, 


108  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Though  there  have  been  many  additions,  we  still  use  a 
large  proportion  of  Anglo-Saxon  words.  Most  of  those  in 
every-day  speech  relating  to  common  objects,  to  home  life, 
to  the  natural  feelings,  and  to  fanning,  are  of  such  origin. 
Demonstrative  adjectives,  such  as  this  and  that,  adjec- 
tives irregularly  compared,  nouns  forming  plurals  by 
change  of  vowel,  verbs  having  irregular  or  strong  conju- 
gation, auxiliary  and  defective  verbs,  prepositions  and  con- 
junctions, and  many  common  words  of  one  or  even  two 
syllables,  are  English  of  pure  descent. 

The  Latin  influence  entered  again  when  the  English  were 
Christianized.  The  people  began  using,  with  modifications, 
the  words  that  now  appear  as  altar,  bishop,  candle,  church, 
creed,  devil,  monk,  nun,  organ,  priest,  shrine,  temple. 

From  the  eighth  century  the  Danes  made  attempts  to 
gain  a  foothold  in  England,  and,  in  1016,  finally  placed  a 
king  on  the  throne.  Though  the  Danes  in  general  adopted 
the  speech  of  the  English,  by  the  natural  association  of 
the  two  races,  both  Teutonic,  many  words  were  added  to 
English,  and  others  were  changed  in  form  or  meaning. 
Danish  had  developed  from  Norse,  just  as  English  had 
grown  out  of  West  Germanic.  Both  were  descendants  of 
the  Teutonic  branch.  Norse  influence  is  shown  in  the  pro- 
nouns they,  their  (Old  English  hie,  hi,  hiera,  etc.)  and  in 
father  (Old  English  feeder).  Haven,  husband,  call,  thrive, 
fling,  knife,  take,  wrong,  are  from  the  Norse.  Probably 
most  words  having  sk  as  skin,  skill,  bask,  words  with  hard 
g  or  k,  where  English  words  would  .have  a  softer  sound, 
as  give,  get,  guest  and  those  with  ai  or  ei,  where  English 
would  have  had  a  or  ce,  as  bait,  hail,  raise,  sleigh,  swain, 
their,  wail,  are  of  Norse  origin,  introduced  by  the  Danes. 

But  a  far  greater  change  came  after  the  Normans,  who 
had  inhabited  the  province  of  Normandy  in  the  northern 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    109 

part  of  what  is  now  France,  conquered  England  in  1066. 
The  people  of  the  territory  now  known  as  France,  Spain, 
and  Portugal  had,  after  the  Roman  Empire  embraced 
them,  quickly  adopted,  as  did  the  other  Celts  of  Britain, 
the  speech  of  the  conquering  nation.  Instead,  however, 
of  taking  the  formal,  highly  inflected  Latin  which  you 
study,  they  naturally  learned  the  speech  of  the  common 
people,  known  as  Vulgar  or  Low  Latin.  This  differed  from 
Classical  Latin  even  more  than  the  talk  of  the  ignorant 
people  of  secluded  districts  differs  from  the  language  of 
the  schools  and  the  pulpit  to-day.  As  the  soldiers  and 
colonists  went  farther  away  from  Rome,  their  speech 
changed  just  as  all  speech  naturally  changes,  because  of 
lack  of  old  models,  because  of  new  pronunciations,  the 
modifications  of  people  learning  a  new  tongue,  imitated  by 
those  who  introduced  it,  and  because  of  the  change  of 
vowel  sounds,  the  dropping  of  case  and  verb  endings,  and 
others. 

So  the  various  Romance  languages  grew  up,  until  by 
the  tenth  century  there  were  many  well-developed  branches. 
Below  are  a  few  lines  from  the  great  French  poem  of  that 
period,  "Chanson  de  Roland." 

Dist  Oliviers:    De  go  ne  sai  jo  blasme. 
Jo  ai  vedut  les  Sarrazins  d'Espaigne : 
Covert  en  sont  li  val  e  les  montaignes 
E  le  larriz  e  trestotes  les  plaines; 
Granz  sont  les  oz  de  cele  gent  estrange: 
Nos  i  avoms  molt  petite  compaigne. " 

In  different  parts  of  the  Gallic  country  various  dialects 
were  spoken.    But  all  had  their  chief  descent  from  Latin 
instead  of  from  the  Germanic  languages. 
In  the  reigns  preceding  the  Norman  Conquest  there  had 


110  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

been  some  French  influence  in  England,  for  English  nobles 
had  gone  much  to  France,  and  Frenchmen  had  come  to 
England.  When  the  Normans  came,  they  continued  to 
speak  their  form  of  French.  At  the  court  and  in  legal 
cases  French  was  largely  used.  Scholars  taught  it  in  the 
schools,  along  with  Latin.  As  the  people  mingled  more 
and  more,  English  with  Norman,  as  they  intermarried,  as 
they  traded,  each  race  adopted  many  words  from  the  other. 
Those  who  could,  read  French  romances,  of  which  great 
numbers  were  brought  to  England;  and  some  wrote  in 
French.  No  wonder  there  was  a  confusion  of  tongues. 

We  have  some  words  that  are  part  English  and  part 
French,  as  over-power,  falsehood,  courtship,  life-guard, 
heir-loom.  Among  the  words  early  assimilated  are  battle, 
castle,  assault,  siege,  banner,  arms,  peace,  tower,  countess, 
court,  justice,  miracle,  procession,  treasure,  treason.  In 
some  instances  it  was  most  natural  to  call  the  unfamiliar 
thing  by  the  name  previously  unfamiliar.  Such  words  as 
master,  servant,  butler,  banquet,  supper,  would  of  course 
be  repeated  among  the  English  who  heard  them  in  the 
houses  of  the  French.  You  may  remember  what  Wamba 
said  about  the  change  of  name  when  food  raised  by  the 
Saxons  appeared  on  the  tables  of  the  Normans.  Some 
words  have  two  forms,  that  of  the  Norman,  and  that  of 
the  Parisian  French  more  common  later:  catch,  chase; 
warden,  guardian;  launch,  lance;  wage,  gage.  Though  the 
difference  was  first  one  of  pronunciation,  the  meaning  has 
been  differentiated  also.  Gaol,  which  we  now  spell,  jail, 
is  an  example  of  words  whose  meaning  is  the  same  still.* 

For  several  centuries,  people  both  wrote  and  spoke  Eng- 
lish, French,  and  Latin;  for  the  scholars  and  priests,  in 

*  Other  examples  may  be  found  in  History  of  the  English  Language, 
Ch.8-10,  O.F.Emerson. 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    111 

common  with  their  class  in  all  countries  at  that  time, 
thought  the  vernacular  vulgar  and,  therefore,  beneath  them 
as  a  medium  of  written  expression.  Some  thought  it  would 
not  last,  but  that  Latin  would  be  the  language  of  learning 
for  all  time.  So  we  have  ponderous  Latin  histories,  re- 
ligious, philosophic,  and  so-called  scientific  works,  along 
with  the  English  moral  directions,  poems,  and  chronicles, 
and  the  French  romances  and  lays.  Some  of  the  Latin 
words,  too,  became  members  of  the  common  speech. 

By  the  time  of  Chaucer,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  Mid- 
dle English  had  become  very  different  from  Old  English, 
but  was  not  yet  fixed  in  form. 

A  clerk  ther  was  of  Oxenford  also, 

That  un-to  logik  hadde  longe  y-go. 

As  lene  was  his  hors  as  is  a  rake, 

And  he  nas  nat  right  fat,  I  undertake; 

But  loked  holwe,  and  ther-to  soberly. 

Ful  thredbar  was  his  overest  courtepy, 

For  he  had  geten  him  yet  no  benefice, 

Ne  was  so  wordly  for  to  have  office. 

For  him  was  levere  have  at  his  beddes  heed 

Twenty  bokes,  clad  in  blak  or  reed 

Of  Aristotle  and  his  philosophye, 

Than  robes  riche,  or  fithele,  or  gay  sautrye. 

When  these  lines  are  read  with  the  Chaucerian  pronun- 
ciation, few  of  you  can  understand  many  words.  Yet  most 
of  them  are  found  in  our  language  to-day,  in  modified 
forms.  In  English,  too,  the  leveling  as  well  as  the  as- 
similating process  was  going  on.  But  from  the  time  of 
Chaucer,  the  language  was  more  stable,  especially  after 
various  translations  of  the  Bible,  and  the  circulation  of 
Shakspere's  plays.  The  invention  of  printing,  the  exten- 


112  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

sion  of  education  and  interest  in  literature,  all  tended  to 
the  same  end.  So  for  three  centuries,  there  have  been  few 
changes  in  form. 

But  the  English  vocabulary  has  constantly  increased. 
The  revival  of  learning  in  Elizabethan  times,  the  travel  of 
educated  people,  the  exploration  of  distant  lands,  the  trade 
with  all  nations,  the  immigration  of  people  of  foreign  races, 
have  all  added  many  words.  Science  made  use  of  Latin 
terms,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity.  Many  of  these  came 
into  common  use;  for  all  men  attained  a  smattering  of 
the  knowledge  once  held  sacred  to  priests  and  physicians. 
Modern  inventions,  especially  during  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, demanded  new  words  for  new  things.  Latin  and 
Greek,  rich  in  roots  that  could  be  used  as  bases  for  many 
words,  were  levied  upon.  The  adoption  of  foreign  fash- 
ions, as  well  as  of  foods  and  fabrics  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  caused  the  adoption  of  the  foreign  names,  until  we 
daily  use  language  that  is  a  medley  of  many  tongues.  Al- 
gebra, chemistry,  cuticle,  telephone,  automobile,  electrician, 
bazaar,  polonaise,  menu,  coffee,  are  but  a  few  examples. 

Sometimes  a  new  word,  formed  from  a  proper  name,  or 
from  elements  hitherto  not  joined,  springs  into  sudden  use. 
Slang  may  become  classic  in  a  half-century,  if  it  fills  a 
need. 

With  such  a  language,  formed  from  many  elements,  en- 
riched by  many  nations,  flexible,  possessed  of  many  vari- 
ants, we  have  a  marvelous  instrument  ready  to  our  use. 
Yet  how  poor  is  the  speech  of  most  of  us!  The  average 
pupil  has  a  very  small,  weak  vocabulary.  Because  of  this, 
he  fails  not  only  to  understand  what  he  reads,  but  to  ex- 
press himself  with  interest  or  power.  Is  it  not  worth  while, 
then,  to  learn  a  few  more  words,  as  well  as  to  study  the  his- 
tory of  some  already  familiar? 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    113 

Exercise  XII. 

With  the  aid  of  a  good  dictionary,  such  as  the  Century, 
or  Webster's  Unabridged,  look  up  the  history  and  meaning 
of  each  of  the  following  words: 

Agnostic,    alchemy,    alcohol,    ambuscade,    anarchist,    arithmetic. 
Bamboo,  bamboozle,  banana,  bard,  baste,  bazaar,  bicycle,  bismuth, 

bite,  boycott,  bungalow,  buxom. 
Cabal,  Caesar,  campaign,  campus,  caucus,  chef,  chemistry,  circus, 

citron,  coffee,  copper,  cosmopolitan,  cozen,  cradle,  crown. 
Desperado,  dock,  dukedom,  duchess,  doubt,  dubious. 
Echo,  eke,  express,  extradition,  extricate,  exult. 
Fancy,  fantasy,  foreign,  fresco,  fruit,  fumigate,  fun,  fusion. 
Garage,   gerrymander,   geyser,  gingham,  gong,  good-bye,  gospel, 

gossip,  graduation,  grill,  guillotine,  gymnasium,  gumption. 
Hippodrome,  hobby,  hobby-horse,  hobo,  hoodoo,  horde,  house-boat. 
Imperialist,  inch,  influenza,  interloper,  item,  itinerary. 
Jiu-jitsu,  jingo,  judiciary,  jungle,  jury,  justice,  juxtaposition. 
Kangaroo,    khaki,    kimono,    kindergarten,    kinetoscope,    knight, 

knout,  knuckle,  Ku  Klux. 

Laboratory,  lady,  library,  limn,  limousine,  lobby,  lord,  loyal. 
Macadamize,  machine,  marigold,  mayonnaise,  meander,  megaphone, 

minister,  mob,  moccasin,  murderous,  museum,  muslin. 
Nihilist,  nitrogenous,  nonsense,  noodles,  novel,  November. 
Occult,  ocular,  omnibus,  opera,  orient,  orthodox,  Oslerize. 
Papa,  pathos,  phonograph,  piazza  (compare  porch,  stoop,  verandah), 

plaza,  plum,  plume,  pongee,  pope,  protege*,  pupil,  purple. 
Reconnoiter,  regime,  renegade,  restaurant,  romance,  rural. 
Shale,  sloyd,  stanza,  stereotype,  succotash,  sweet,  swoon,  syphon. 
Tattoo,  tawdry,  tea,  teacher,  tin,  tory,  totem,  tungsten,  tunic. 
Vandalism,  vaudeville,  vendetta,  vengeance,  vigilant,  vulgar. 
Wampum,  weird,  Whig,  whimsical,  wife,  wisdom,  wit,  worth. 
Yam,  yak,  yawl,  yodel,  yokel,  yuletide. 
Zealot,  zebra,  zephyr,  zinc,  Zion,  zither,  zoology,  zwieback. 

Exercise  XIII. 

With  the  aid  of  an  unabridged  dictionary,  find  how  the 
following  words  are  formed  from  roots  or  stems,  with  pre- 


114  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

fixes   and   suffixes.      [Halsey's   Etymology   of   Latin   and 
Greek  is  a  valuable  reference  book  for  this  exercise.] 

Accede,  admiration,  animate,  antivivisection,  anarchy,  architect, 
autonomy,  bibliophile,  biography,  coagulate,  centenary,  chrono- 
logical, circumference,  consensus,  confidential,  cyclone,  diameter, 
diversion,  effulgent,  eloquent,  emigrant,  expansibility,  fraternal, 
fortitude,  gratify,  gratitude,  homicidal,  homonym,  ignorant,  incul- 
cate, indomitable,  induction,  incite,  indicative,  intercede,  judicial, 
jurisdiction,  library,  locomotive,  magnanimous,  manipulate,  manu- 
facture, mediaeval,  meridian,  noxious,  omnipotent,  persecution, 
philanthropy,  physiology,  politics,  profundity,  propitious,  relin- 
quish, reprehensible,  repulsive,  reference,  solstice,  spectacular, 
subterfuge,  subtraction,  supercilious,  synonym,  telegraph,  telephone, 
transference,  transparency,  utilitarian,  undeveloped,  uneducated, 
veracious,  voracious,  vocabulary,  voluble,  voluntary,  vulnerable. 

Exercise  XIV. 

Form  five  words  from  the  stem  of  each  word  above. 

Since  the  English  language  is  so  rich,  there  is  no  excuse 
for  poverty  of  vocabulary.  Yet,  if  you  notice  the  speech 
of  people  as  they  converse,  you  will  find  that  the  same 
words  and  phrases  are  used  again  and  again.  "Of  course," 
and  "don't  you  know,"  are  only  examples  of  the  monot- 
onous repetitions  in  our  talk.  The  best  way  to  overcome 
this  fault  is  to  hunt  for  substitutes,  whenever  a  word  seems 
to  have  become  too  much  a  favorite.  A  school  principal 
was  in  the  habit  of  using  the  word  "absolutely"  whenever 
he  wanted  to  express  the  superlative  degree.  That  was 
because  he  did  not  stop  to  think  of  a  variation,  until  he 
found  the  habit  too  strong  to  break.  Study  of  the  speeches 
or  writings  of  great  men  will  help  much  in  finding  new 
words  and  making  them  personal  property.  If  a  word  that 
comes  to  mind  frequently  seems  the  only  one  that  fits,  look 
up  the  synonyms  in  the  dictionary.  Above  all,  consulta- 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    115 

tion  of  the  dictionary  for  the  meaning  of  unfamiliar  words 
will  fix  these  in  the  memory,  so  that  they  will  be  ready  for 
use. 

This  does  not  mean  that  hard,  long,  unusual  words  should 
be  sought.  There  is  no  occasion  for  emulating  the  young 
instructor  in  a  large  university,  who,  when  the  sound  of  a 
lawn-mower  outside  made  hearing  difficult,  said,  "We  will 
suspend  operations  until  the  bucolic  implement  of  industry 
has  ceased  perambulating  beneath  the  window."  Nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  does  it  mean  that  we  are  to  choose  only 
words  of  one  syllable,  that  can  be  understood  by  small 
children.  Most  audiences  consist  of  people  fairly  intelligent, 
though  not  prigs  nor  pedants.  The  best  speakers  use  a 
variety  of  long  and  short  words,  familiar  and  striking,  of 
Anglo-Saxon  or  of  Latin  origin. 

Study  the  paragraphs  on  pages  67-69,  74-75,  378-384,  or 
any  others  the  teacher  may  designate,  for  the  vocabulary. 
Is  there  enough  variety?  Are  the  words  euphonious?  Are 
they  simple  or  labored  in  effect?  Do  they  make  the  mean- 
ing clear?  Could  you  find  better  ones? 

Since  we  have  such  a  heritage  in  the  English  language, 
we  should  guard  it  zealously.  It  is  in  danger,  in  many 
ways.  In  various  sections  of  this  country,  as  in  provinces 
of  all  countries,  there  are  tendencies  to  localize  the  speech, 
resulting  in  dialectic  forms.  This  shows  most  in  pronuncia- 
tion, which  we  shall  consider  later.  But  it  also  affects  the 
use  of  words.  Southern  and  western  people,  as  well  as  New 
Englanders,  can  be  recognized  by  peculiar  usages.  The 
dialect  used  by  the  "Pennsylvania  Dutch"  is  the  imperfect 
English  used  by  their  immigrant  ancestors.  In  many  sec- 
tions of  the  land  there  is  a  great  population  of  foreign  birth. 
In  the  Northwest  the  Germans  and  Swedes  have  settled. 
In  northern  New  York  and  New  England  are  many 


116  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

French-Canadians.  In  New  York  City  there  is  such  a 
confusion  of  tongues  that  the  descendant  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  scarcely  recognizes  his  own,  but  may  well  think 
himself  set  down  in  the  streets  of  a  foreign  city.  The  ef- 
fects of  this  influx  of  people  speaking  various  languages 
is  shown  in  the  mixture  of  words  from  several,  such  as 
Plattdeutsch,  High  German,  and  English;  or  French,  Swiss 
German,  and  English;  or  Yiddish,  Hebrew,  German,  and 
English.  Not  only  have  foreign  words  been  introduced, 
but  verb  and  pronominal  forms,  the  use  of  adverbs  such 
as  "already,"  the  use  of  tenses,  the  order  of  words  in  the 
sentence,  and  the  idiom,  show  the  influence.  Unless  stren- 
uous efforts  are  made  in  the  schools  and  by  individuals, 
the  speech  of  many  cities  and  of  some  country  districts 
will,  in  fifty  years,  be  unrecognizable  as  English. 

Sectional  and  foreign  influences  are  not,  however,  the 
only  disintegrating  forces.  The  writers  of  books,  of  maga- 
zine articles,  and  especially  of  newspaper  reports,  are  try- 
ing to  use  startling  language,  without  regard  to  its  purity. 
An  account  of  a  baseball  game  is  unintelligible  to  one  who 
is  not  an  enthusiast  and  a  regular  attendant.  The  columns 
of  the  newspapers  are  full  of  words  such  as  sleuth,  gunman, 
gangster,  fan,  airman,  plainclothes  man,  bluecoat,  and 
others  not  commonly  found  in  classic  literature.  Some  of 
these  words  may  be  valuable  additions  to  the  language, 
but  few  of  them  have  increased  the  variety  of  expression. 

After  all,  the  future  of  English  rests  with  us  as  indi- 
viduals. Shall  we  interlard  our  conversation  with  the 
latest  slang,  good  or  bad,  or  imitate,  "for  fun,"  the  chil- 
dren of  Myra  Kelly's  tales,  who  "borrow  a  penny  off  her," 
or  "bring  the  book  to  teacher  in  the  next  room"?  Shall  we 
continue  to  mix  the  tenses  so  that  our  meaning  is  con- 
fused? Shall  we  carelessly  use  words  without  regard  to 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    117 

the  real  meaning,  or  clip  them  in  a  slovenly  manner?  Aside 
from  the  preservation  of  our  mother  tongue,  should  we  not 
have  some  care  for  the  habits  we  form  or  neglect  to  form? 
The  people  who  speak  carefully  and  with  precision  are 
the  ones  who  do  things  the  same  way.  As  we  talk,  so  we 
form  personality  and  character.  There  is  no  more  reason 
why  we  should  be  slovenly  in  speech  than  in  dress. 

Of  course,  correct  speaking  requires  some  effort  on  the 
part  of  most  of  us.  Fortunate  is  the  boy  or  girl  brought 
up  in  a  home  where  he  hears  only  good  English.  He  is 
not  likely  to  fall  into  errors  if  he  is  careful.  Some  never 
hear  any  but  a  foreign  tongue  at  home.  Others  associate 
only  with  children  whose  sentences  are  as  broken  as  their 
own.  Still  others  come  from  homes  where  ignorance  or 
carelessness  has  prevailed.  To  all  comes  the  temptation 
to  imitate  the  slang  of  newspapers  and  street  boys. 

The  best  guides  are  good  writers  and  speakers,  those  who 
are  careful  and  are  accepted  as  authority.  Most  educated 
people  talk  fairly  well,  though  far  too  many  are  careless 
of  their  responsibility.  Culture  always  stands  revealed  in 
the  speech.  If,  then,  we  imitate  the  best  within  our  reach, 
much  may  be  gained.  But  only  constant  vigilance  will 
win.  If  there  is  doubt,  a  good  dictionary  will  always  help. 
Such  books  as  those  by  Arlo  Bates  and  R.  G.  White,  on 
the  use  of  words,  may  be  a  considerable  aid.  An  enlarged 
vocabulary  is  indispensable,  for  it  is  poverty  of  expression 
that  opens  the  way  for  inexact  and  slangy  speech.  If  we 
really  have  a  good  many  words  at  our  command,  we  need 
not  worry  much  about  finding  the  right  ones. 

The  science  that  treats  of  the  selection  and  right  use 
of  words  is  called  diction,  from  the  Latin  verb  dico,  say. 
The  divisions  of  it  are  named  PURITY,  PROPRIETY  and  PRE- 
CISION. 


118  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

PURITY  of  diction  consists  in  the  use  of  such  words 
only  as  have  present  national  use  by  the  best  writers  and 
speakers.  A  violation  of  purity  is  called  a  barbarism,  since 
it  is  thought  that  the  people  really  belonging  to  our  nation 
will  not  put  themselves  intentionally  outside  the  pale  by 
failing  to  meet,  so  far  as  possible,  our  standards.  Bar- 
barisms are  of  several  classes: 

Misformed  words  are  those  that  are  hybrids,  or  put 
together  in  defiance  of  accepted  custom,  as  impossible,  sing- 
ist,  misfortunate.  Some  of  these  have,  however,  been  long 
accepted,  as  photographer.  Very  often  such  a  word  is 
started  by  someone  who  does  not  know  the  origin  of  the 
stem,  and  others  are  too  careless  to  inform  themselves  till 
the  majority  of  people  have  taken  it  up. 

Obsolete  words  are  those  that  were  in  good  use  in  earlier 
times,  but  have  been  dropped  by  common  consent.  Many 
of  these  are  still  retained  in  poetry,  as  kine,  yclept. 

Newly  coined  words  are  those  that  someone  has  recently 
introduced,  that  may  be  current  in  the  newspapers  and 
among  a  few  people,  but  have  not  yet  been  generally 
adopted,  and  have  not  been  used  to  any  extent  in  formal 
writing.  In  our  day,  such  words  are  made  very  frequently, 
and  many  are  found  useful.  Marconigram  seems  too  long, 
but  a  word  is  needed  for  that  kind  of  message.  A  good 
one  must  be  found.  A  viator  is  not  likely  to  be  used  by 
the  common  people.  Will  birdman  or  airman  gain  favor, 
or  will  another  be  found,  better  than  any  of  these?  Pope 
gave  us  a  very  good  rule: 

"In  words,  as  fashions,  the  same  rule  will  hold; 
Alike  fantastic  if  too  new  or  old." 

Partly  because  Americans  have  traveled  much,  partly 
because  Continental  people  came  here,  but  more  because 
we  have  adopted  so  many  articles  and  usages  from  Europe, 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    119 

there  has  been  a  tendency  to  use  foreign  words.  Some  have 
become  ours  because  we  had  no  equivalent.  But  others 
are  unnecessary.  Even  though  we  may  consent  to  use 
chef,  and  possibly  menu,  there  is  no  reason  for  saying  chef 
d'ceuvre,  when  we  have  the  good  old  word  masterpiece. 

A  colloquialism  is  a  word  used  in  ordinary  conversation 
by  most  people,  but  not  admitted  to  the  dignity  of  a  place 
in  formal  articles  or  speeches,  as  can't,  guess  for  think, 
cute. 

Slang  has  been  well  characterized  by  Richard  Grant 
White: 

"Slang  is  a  vocabulary  of  genuine  words  or  unmeaning 
jargon,  used  always  with  an  arbitrary  and  conventional 
significance,  and  generally  with  humorous  intent.  It  is 
mostly  coarse,  low  and  foolish,  although  in  some  cases, 
owing  to  circumstances  of  the  time,  it  is  pungent  and  preg- 
nant of  meaning." 

In  some  countries  of  the  English-speaking  world,  the 
divisions  are  called  provinces.  So  the  words  used  only  in 
some  one  section  are  known  as  provincialisms.  The  south- 
erner "reckons"  when  he  thinks.  He  also  uses  the  word 
like  as  a  conjunction. 

Although  technical  words  limited  in  use  to  one  or  two 
trades  or  professions  are  necessary  for  use  among  the 
people  of  those  occupations,  they  are  not  always  clear  to 
others,  and  should  therefore  be  avoided.  The  word  two- 
throw,  for  instance,  though  commonly  used  by  mechanics, 
would  not  be  understood  by  most  people. 

Exercise  XV. 

Test  the  words  listed  on  the  next  page  as  to  good  present 
use.  If  they  are  not  good  words,  why?  If  they  are,  how 
did  they  become  so?  Use  a  good  unabridged  dictionary,  in- 
cluding the  supplement  if  there  is  one. 


120  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Aeronaut,  a  la  mode,  ambitiousness,  apropos,  au  fait,  beastly, 
bifocal,  bifurcated,  biograph,  bioscope,  biplane,  boom,  bore, 
boost,  boycott,  Bull  Moose,  Bohemian,  camaraderie,  chauffeur, 
cheap,  chic,  cinch,  some  class,  claque,  clerk,  clip,  clique,  collo- 
type, conceitedness,  confliction,  co-op,  coop,  cop,  cram  (study), 
crank  (person),  crank  up,  crook,  crush,  cut  (used  of  absenting  one- 
self from  classes  and  of  refusal  to  recognize  acquaintances),  dago, 
deadhead,  depot,  dessert,  developer,  dinky,  dope,  duck  (person), 
drunk  (person),  eftsoons,  electrocute,  electrometer,  exam,  erst- 
while, fad,  fan  (baseball  enthusiast),  faux  pas,  fire  up,  fluke,  flunk, 
fume,  fuss,  fresh,  freshman,  garage,  gas,  gerrymander,  graft,  grind 
(study),  grill,  guess,  gym,  Harveyize,  hobby,  hobo,  ilk,  intellects, 
interestingly,  it  (noun),  jar  (verb),  jolly  (adj.,  verb),  joy  (adj.), 
juice  (electricity),  kid,  kidding,  killing,  land,  law,  loafer,  looker, 
massage,  mixer,  modernist,  motor,  motorman,  mugwump,  mux, 
nickel,  nifty,  nixie,  orate,  ornery,  outing,  peeler,  peach,  phone,  phono- 
plex,  phony,  pole  (verb),  protege",  pshaw,  queer,  quietness,  quit, 
quiz,  quondam,  quoth,  radiator,  restaurant,  cafe",  hash-house, 
referendum,  register,  resignment,  rooter,  rum,  rusty,  rut,  saleslady, 
saloon,  sawbuck,  scab,  scamp,  shack,  skimp,  skin,  smart,  snack, 
snide,  soda,  sometime,  strike,  strike-breaker,  suffragette,  sure, 
swell,  tasty,  taxi,  tramp,  treat,  tripodic,  trolley,  trust,  typewriter, 
typist,  two-step,  two-way,  unexcusable,  unharmful,  unloyal,  un- 
proper,  vamoose,  via,  whilom,  wire  (verb,  noun),  wireless,  wrinkle, 
zoo. 

PROPRIETY  of  diction  consists  in  choosing  words  that 
properly  express  the  intended  meaning.  A  violation  may 
not  always  render  the  meaning  vague,  though  it  often  does, 
but  it  brands  the  speaker  as  careless,  inexact,  or  ignorant. 

A  solecism  is  that  form  which  is  a  violation  of  an  ac- 
cepted rule  of  grammar. 

Some  people  incorrectly  use  verbs  for  nouns,  as  recom- 
mend for  recommendation. 

Others  speak  of  things  as  real  good,  meaning  really  or 
very  good.  A  like  mistake  is  the  use  of  badly  for  bad,  after 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT    121 

the  verb  feel.  Both  these  illustrate  the  interchanging  of 
adjectives  and  adverbs. 

Verb  forms  are  frequently  misused.  Shall  and  will  are 
confused  (see  page  87),  come  is  used  for  came,  or  done  for 
did,  or  don't  for  doesn't.  Verbs  are  invented  that  never 
found  place  in  a  dictionary,  as  enthuse. 

An  impropriety  is  the  use  of  a  word  in  a  sense  likely 
to  be  misunderstood,  or  in  a  sense  not  sanctioned  by  good 
usage. 

Exercise  XVI. 
Criticise  the  following: 

Run  quick,  most  all,  proven,  worked  up,  quite  some,  different 
than,  being  I  was  there,  can  I  have  this  book?  I  feel  like  I  would 
faint,  near  all,  alright,  took  sick,  burglarize,  can't  hardly. 

Exercise  XVII. 

Use  the  following  correctly  in  sentences: 

Audience,  spectators,  crowd,  mob;  awful;  funny;  quite;  while, 
during;  emigrant,  immigrant;  believe,  think,  guess;  balance, 
remainder;  affect,  effect;  accept,  except;  expect,  suppose,  presume; 
learn,  teach,  study;  borrow,  lend;  perception;  likely,  liable,  apt; 
rather;  kind,  sort;  lot,  quantity,  number,  sum,  amount;  lovely, 
perfectly,  sweet,  dear;  simply,  only,  just;  pertinent,  impertinent; 
beside,  besides;  in,  into;  without,  unless;  horrid,  terrible,  deadly; 
great,  splendid,  gorgeous,  grand;  may,  can;  common,  mutual; 
respectfully,  respectively;  admit,  permit;  transpire,  happen;  bring, 
take,  carry;  insight,  foresight,  nearsighted;  socialist,  sociologist; 
luxurious,  luxuriant;  sociably,  socially;  afflict,  inflict;  statue, 
statute,  stature;  leave,  let;  elevator,  elevated;  vocation,  avocation; 
biography,  autobiography;  healthy,  healthful;  exceptional,  excep- 
tionable. 


122  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

PRECISION  consists  in  using  the  exact  word  which,  of 
several,  most  nearly  expresses  the  meaning  of  the  writer 
or  speaker.  In  order  to  speak  with  precision,  observe  the 
following: 

Note  the  slight  differences  among  synonyms — words  of 
similar  though  not  identical  meaning.  Several  words  may 
express  the  same  general  idea,  but  not  the  specific  one  you 
want  to  convey:  Continual  means  at  frequent  intervals; 
continuous,  without  a  break. 

Distinguish  between  general  and  specific  terms:  blue, 
azure;  fiction,  novel. 

Distinguish  between  negative  and  privative  terms:  unbe- 
lief, disbelief. 

Distinguish  between  active  and  passive  meanings:  force, 
strength. 

Distinguish  between  degrees  of  intensity,  to  avoid  over- 
or  understatement:  noise,  crash,  uproar. 

Avoid  ambiguity.  People  were  talking  about  (around) 
her. 

Exercise  XVIII. 

Use  the  following  correctly  in  sentences: 

Discover,  invent;  description,  narrative,  account,  recital;  oppor- 
tunity, occasion;  occupation,  business,  profession;  tornado,  cyclone, 
storm,  blizzard;  plant,  flower;  principal,  principle;  scholar,  pupil, 
student;  quite,  rather,  somewhat,  very;  among,  between;  aged, 
ancient,  antiquated,  antique,  old,  obsolete,  venerable;  criticise, 
discuss,  consider;  exist,  live,  dwell,  reside;  fitting,  suitable,  perti- 
nent, right;  weak-minded,  narrow-minded,  bigoted;  impractical, 
idealistic,  unworldly;  say,  speak,  affirm,  assert,  state,  protest; 
confess,  admit,  acknowledge;  adore,  revere,  venerate,  esteem, 
admire,  regard,  respect;  like,  love;  advantage,  benefit;  kill,  murder, 
assassinate,  execute;  noble,  honest,  upright,  honorable,  good, 


EXPRESSION  AS  CONDITIONED  BY  THOUGHT     123 

righteous;  gaze,  look,  glance,  peer;  control,  govern,  rule,  boss, 
command;  adhere,  cling;  tell,  advise,  counsel,  explain,  speak;  noted, 
famous,  notorious,  renowned,  celebrated;  ceremony,  performance, 
event,  occasion;  cordial,  sincere,  friendly,  faithful,  loyal,  true; 
able,  capable,  efficient,  powerful,  brilliant,  keen,  clever,  smart; 
crisis,  climax;  kind,  gentle,  tender,  affable,  amiable,  mild,  gracious; 
sacred,  holy,  saintly,  sanctimonious,  religious;  religion,  church, 
sect,  denomination,  faith;  belief,  faith,  creed,  doctrine,  dogma; 
stern,  severe,  rigorous,  inexorable,  harsh,  strict,  stringent;  angry, 
mad,  indignant,  wrathful;  brave,  bold,  daring,  fearless,  dauntless, 
reckless;  firm,  consistent,  unswerving,  steady,  constant,  unbending, 
single-minded,  purposeful,  determined;  little,  small,  tiny;  creature, 
animal,  brute;  clothes,  clothing;  regret,  pity,  sympathy,  compassion; 
inspire,  incite,  arouse,  excite;  mix,  mingle;  medley,  muddle, mixture, 
composition;  usually,  generally,  commonly,  ordinarily;  standards, 
idea,  ideal,  principle,  theory;  help,  assist,  aid,  relieve,  support, 
maintain. 

We  have  considered  the  conditions  of  good  speaking  so 
far  as  they  relate  to  the  mental  side  of  it.  We  have  found 
that  the  speaker  must  have  something  to  say,  that  he  must 
know  how  to  plan  his  material  so  that  he  can  make  the 
hearer  grasp  it  and  remember  it,  that  he  must  be  careful  in 
the  expression  of  it  by  the  formal,  but  necessary,  arrange- 
ment of  paragraphs  and  sentences,  and  that  he  should 
know  how  to  use  the  English  words  that  have  been  formed 
through  centuries  to  help  bring  minds  into  contact.  No 
effort  is  too  great  for  him  who  would  master  the  methods 
found  good  by  those  of  other  times.  Nor  will  the  full 
reward  be  lacking  to  him  who  perseveres  in  his  at- 
tempts to  gain  that  elusive,  intangible,  but  increasingly 
valuable  asset,  "style."  Moreover,  that  style  musfe  be  such 
as  shows  the  improvements  made  as  a  result  of  experience 
and  changing  conditions.  The  present  demands  a  style  of 
its  own,  suited  to  the  requirements  and  to  the  necessities 


124  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

of  the  age.  It  must  be  simple,  concise,  but,  above  all,  clear. 
People  of  the  twentieth  century  have  no  time  to  waste. 
They  must  have  the  essentials,  without  the  frills,  yet  they 
have  risen  above  the  stage  where  crude,  rough  statement 
will  serve.  It  must  show  as  high  a  finish  as  their  mechani- 
cal products,  must  serve  its  purpose  fully,  yet  be  of  suf- 
ficient beauty  to  attract. 

But  the  speaker  must  go  even  farther.  He  uses  more 
tools  than  does  the  writer.  We  have  seen  what  an  advan- 
tage he  has  because  of  them,  but  he  must  know  how  to 
use  them  or  he  will  spoil  his  work,  the  product  of  his  brain. 
So  he  must  learn  how  to  handle  his  body,  which  conveys 
his  thought,  interprets  it,  clinches  the  contact  of  mind  with 
mind. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ACTUAL   SPEAKING 

THE  USE  OF  THE  BODY 

The  position  of  the  speaker  is  important.  If  the  room  is 
large,  a  platform  is  undoubtedly  an  advantage,  though 
many  do  not  care  for  it  ordinarily.  It  places  the  speaker  in 
sight  of  the  audience,  and  gives  the  voice  greater  range. 
Far  more  necessary  is  the  right  choice  of  relative  position. 
The  speaker  should  always,  if  possible,  face  his  hearers. 
He  may  at  first  be  embarrassed  by  having  so  many  eyes 
turned  toward  him,  but  he  will  soon  find  that  this  embar- 
rassment is  far  overbalanced  by  the  inspiration  gained  from 
the  faces,  by  the  opportunity  for  gauging  the  attitude,  the 
understanding,  and  the  responsiveness  of  the  assembly.  The 
story  is  told  of  a  humorous  lecturer  who  saw  one  man  un- 
smiling after  several  stories.  He  bent  his  energies  to  mak- 
ing that  man  laugh,  and  made  a  great  success  with  the  entire 
audience.  There  is  not  often  any  reason,  in  a  quiet  room, 
for  a  speaker's  going  among  the  listeners,  so  that  some  are 
behind  him.  It  is  scarcely  courteous  to  those,  and  deprives 
him  of  part  of  the  audience.  There  is,  however,  advantage, 
in  many  instances,  in  a  position  directly  in  front,  very  near, 
as  a  feeling  of  equality,  even  intimacy,  is  aroused.  Stand- 
ing at  one  side  is  not  good,  since  it  forces  half  the  audience 
to  turn  uncomfortably.  A  person  with  a  stiff,  aching  neck 
is  not  a  good  listener. 

The  chief  reason  for  facing  the  hearers  is  the  opportunity 

125 


126  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

it  gives  to  use  the  eyes.  Yet  some,  in  the  best  possible 
position,  fail  to  make  use  of  it.  They  gaze  at  the  ceiling, 
the  walls,  or  at  a  window.  This  is,  in  the  first  place,  dis- 
courteous. It  gives  the  impression  of  wandering  attention 
and  a  lack  of  personal  interest.  Moreover,  it  lessens  power 
over  the  audience.  Keeping  the  eye-hold  secures  attention, 
gives  an  impression  of  personal  interest,  arouses  answer- 
ing interest  and  sympathy,  and  gives  full  scope  to  whatever 
magnetism  the  speaker  possesses.  To  disregard  these  is, 
to  say  the  least,  unwise. 

The  bearing  of  the  whole  person  has  great  effect,  for 
good  or  bad.  A  natural  attitude  is  always  desirable.  The 
best  actors  are  those  who  seem  like  real  people,  not  those 
who  affect  a  conventional  walk,  manner,  or  speech.  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  said  by  John  Bright  to  be  "the  most  eloquent 
voice  which  spoke  the  English  tongue,"  adapted,  according 
to  Dr.  Buckley,  "the  dignified  colloquial  to  every  style  of 
address  from  the  lecture  in  academic  halls  to  scathing  in- 
vective or  solemn  appeal  in  popular  assemblies." 

A  good  bearing,  if  not  natural,  may  be  acquired  by  in- 
telligent effort.  A  speaker  who  habitually  leans  on  any- 
thing, a  pulpit  or  a  chair,  or  who  supports  himself  by  a 
desk,  or  constantly  fingers  a  piece  of  furniture,  lacks  dig- 
nity and  fails  to  gain  full  attention.  The  writer  once  saw 
a  college  professor,  addressing  a  body  of  teachers,  go  sev- 
eral rows  down  into  a  crowded  room,  and  stand  on  one  foot, 
with  his  hands  constantly  shifting  on  a  chair  which  he  kept 
moving.  The  best  bearing,  in  general,  is  the  erect  one,  with 
chest  up,  thighs  back,  knees  straight,  both  feet  firmly  on  the 
floor,  but  one  slightly  in  advance  of  the  other.  This  gives 
animation,  and  need  not  be  awkward.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to 
keep  the  same  position  throughout.  Occasional  change  is 
restful  to  both  speaker  and  hearer.  A  step  or  two  back- 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  127 

ward,  forward,  or  to  one  side,  to  mark  the  pause  after  a 
paragraph,  is  advisable.  The  same  foot  need  not  always  be 
foremost. 

Moreover,  different  ideas  require  different  attitudes.  The 
passive  is  the  more  natural.  The  active  shows  intensity. 
The  head  is  more  firmly  set,  the  chest  more  expanded,  the 
limbs  more  energized.  Scmetimes,  the  bearing  may  be  ac- 
tually retiring,  to  suit  the  words. 

Exercise  I. 

Express  the  following,  taking  the  attitude  that  seems  most 
natural  for  each: 

1.  Gentlemen,  we  have  met  here  to-night  to  consider  a  measure 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  our  citizens.    We  all  know  how  many 
people  are  shut  up,  most  of  the  time,  in  close,  dimly  lighted  factories 
and  stores,  even  in  dark  homes.     It  has  been  proposed  to  give  these, 
less  fortunate  than  those  who  can  go  to  the  country  for  air  and  quiet, 
the  opportunity  to  spend  a  few  hours,  whenever  they  have  leisure, 
in  God's  out  of  doors,  in  a  public  park. 

2.  Why,  then,  should  we  defer  the  Declaration?    Is  any  man  so 
weak  as  now  to  hope  for  a  reconciliation  with  England,  which  shall 
leave  either  safety  to  the  country  and  its  liberties,  or  safety  to  his 
own  life  and  his  own  honor?    Are  not  you,  Sir,  who  sit  in  that 
chair, — is  not  he,  our  venerable  colleague  near  you, — are  you  not 
both  already  the  proscribed  and  predestined  objects  of  punishment 
and  of  vengeance? 

3.  Shall  we  not  take  the  banner  of  righteousness  in  hand,  hold 
it  aloft,  and  bear  it  into  the  dark  continent?    Shall  we  not  take  to 
those  heathen  peoples  the  blessing  of  our  freedom,  the  fruits  of 
our  civilization? 

4.  I  grant,  gentlemen,  that  all  my  opponent  has  said  as  to  the 
necessities  of  this  campaign  is  true.    Though  I  had  looked  forward 
to  being  your  candidate,  I  withdraw  in  favor  of  a  compromise  choice. 


128  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  facial  expression  naturally  indicates  the  feeling. 
When,  in  talking,  one  wants  to  give  an  idea  of  another's 
speech  and  acts,  he  often  reproduces  the  expression.  Facial 
changes  are  among  the  simplest,  easiest  forms  of  empha- 
sis, yet  many  people  when  talking  in  public  try  to  keep 
their  faces  utterly  vacant  and  expressionless.  They  try,  in 
fact,  to  be  just  as  unnatural  as  possible.  This  apparent 
apathy  defeats  the  object  of  speaking,  since  it  decreases 
effectiveness  by  boring  and  annoying  the  hearers. 

There  is  no  reason  why,  when  a  person  has  good  news 
or  something  pleasant  to  say,  or  wants  to  show  courtesy  or 
good-will,  he  should  put  on  a  pained,  tired,  sad  look.  On 
the  contrary,  he  will  follow  his  inclinations,  if  wise,  and 
allow  the  features  to  relax  into  a  smile.  If  he  wishes  to 
express  anger  or  defiance,  he  is  likely,  if  he  does  what  he 
would  do  in  ordinary  intercourse,  to  frown  slightly  and 
to  thrust  the  head  forward  with  a  steady  look.  The  scorn- 
ful girl  tilts  her  nose  and  raises  the  lip,  throwing  her  head 
slightly  back.  Boys  are  entirely  capable  of  the  same  thing, 
and  do  not  refrain  from  it  among  their  fellows.  A  disap- 
pointed child  has  a  dejected,  softened  look.  Older  people 
have  not  forgotten  how  to  express  sorrow,  but  practice  re- 
straint more.  There  is  no  reason  why  people  should  not 
avail  themselves  of  every  change  of  countenance  that  will 
aid  them  in  speaking.  Whether  praying  or  asking  a  favor, 
we  naturally  look  upward  with  hope,  just  as  when  ashamed 
we  look  down  or  away.  After  all,  we  merely  utilize  the 
instinctive  forms  of  facial  expression  when  we  allow  our 
features  full  play.  We  need  most  to  get  over  the  idea  that, 
when  we  are  before  others  on  more  or  less  formal  occasions, 
we  should  be  other  than  ourselves  or  should  make  blocks 
of  wood  of  our  flexible,  responsive  human  forms.  Life  is 
what  we  want  to  show,  not  petrification.  Why  should  we 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  129 

make  an  artificial  thing  out  of  the  first  and  simplest  way 
we  all  had  of  making  ourselves  understood?  The  eigh- 
teenth century  cry  of  "back  to  nature"  might  be  used  now 
for  speakers,  because  many  have  forgotten  the  natural  ways 
of  revealing  mind  through  the  body. 

This  applies  also  to  the  use  of  various  parts  of  the  body. 
The  use  of  hands  and  arms  appeals  to  the  eye,  but  it  also 
aids  the  ear  of  the  listener.  It  emphasizes  the  voice  of  the 
speaker,  and  should  harmonize  with  it.  Gesture  is  the  sim- 
plest kind  of  sign  language,  growing  out  of  feeling.  The 
baby  wants  a  bright  object,  grabs  it,  and  holds  it  tight. 
He  may  even  throw  his  whole  body  forward.  He  draws 
back  in  fear,  or  pulls  his  hand  away  from  a  stranger.  Deaf 
mutes  use  signs  to  denote  many  things.  People  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities  often  make  each  other  understand  by 
using  hands  and  fingers,  or  moving  the  head  in  various 
ways. 

The  reason  gesture  is  so  hard  for  young  people  is  that 
they  make  it  so.  They  think  they  cannot  use  their  hands, 
when  other  people  are  looking  at  them.  Yet  they  all  use 
any  number  of  gestures  in  ordinary  talk,  when  they  forget 
themselves.  If  speakers  would  think  of  the  message  they 
want  to  give,  and  of  the  hearers,  they  would  not  be  em- 
barrassed as  to  how  to  act.  If  women,  before  speaking, 
would  remove  hat  and  gloves,  they  would  be  more  free  in 
expression. 

The  best  rule  for  gesture  is  to  use  the  body  as  feeling 
and  instinct  suggest.  If  you  can't  help  using  your  hands 
while  talking,  you  probably  have  all  the  gestures  you  need, 
and  use  them  most  effectively.  If  you  are  not  strongly  im- 
pelled to  use  your  hands,  just  let  the  inclination  or  in- 
stinctive suggestion  have  full  play.  If  you  really  get  into 
the  spirit  of  what  you  have  to  say,  you  can't  help  feeling 


130  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

some  sort  of  impulse,  however  faint,  to  emphasize  it  in 
other  ways  than  by  voice. 

It  is  true  that  natural  movements  of  this  kind  are  not 
always  graceful.  A  well-known  lecturer  said,  in  a  series  of 
addresses  to  students  on  extemporaneous  speaking,  that  his 
gestures  were  all  unstudied,  and  that  he  never  made  an 
ungraceful  one.  But  the  people  who  heard  him  thought 
that  it  was  neither  graceful  nor  effective  for  him  to  raise 
his  hand  to  the  tip  of  his  nose  every  few  minutes.  Through 
his  neglect  to  distinguish  between  useful  and  useless  mo- 
tions, he  had  formed  a  disagreeable  habit. 

You  will  readily  think  of  some  of  the  most  common  ges- 
tures. A  nod,  a  shake  or  a  toss  of  the  head  indicates  a 
special  feeling.  The  pointing  of  the  finger,  the  laying  of 
the  finger  on  the  lips,  the  doubled  fist,  the  clenched  hand, 
the  outstretched  one,  the  palm  turned  outward  as  if  to  ward 
off  a  blow,  the  raising  of  the  hand,  the  "sawing"  motion, 
the  measuring  one,  all  express  definite  ideas.  You  could 
interpret  a  person's  general  meaning  without  words  by  any 
one  of  these.  Accompanying  words,  they  make  the  thought 
clearer,  bear  out  the  words,  make  a  double  impression. 

Gesture  includes  the  use  of  various  parts  of  the  body, 
especially  the  head,  arms,  and  hands.  When  a  person 
holds  his  head  erect,  the  attitude  denotes  a  sense  of  power, 
of  self-confidence,  dignity,  and  earnestness.  If  he  lowers 
it,  he  may  be  sad,  ashamed,  thoughtful,  or  desirous  of  show- 
ing courtesy,  attention,  or  deference.  If  he  raises  it  above 
the  usual  level,  he  is  probably  moved  by  joy,  pride,  or 
triumph. 

One  naturally  turns  away  his  head  if  he  feels  distrust  or 
dislike.  If  he  thrusts  it  forward,  he  wants  or  expects  some- 
thing, is  eager  for  it.  But  he  will  draw  back  from  that 
which  he  fears  or  hates,  or  from  a  person  who  arouses  his 
anger. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  131 

In  ordinary  conversation,  the  arms  are  moved  at  the 
elbow,  about  on  a  level  with  the  waist.  When  a  speaker 
wants  to  be  very  impressive,  and  exaggerates  manner  for 
the  sake  of  effect,  he  moves  his  arms  from  the  shoulder  with 
a  broader  sweep,  and  raises  them  sometimes  to  shoulder 
level.  This  is  sometimes  called  the  oratorical  gesture. 
Dramatic  emphasis  is  more  intense  than  either  of  the 
others. 

The  arm  may  be  extended  straight,  as  in  denunciation 
or  vigorous  emphasis,  or  curved  and  gradually  straight- 
ened without  stiffness  to  indicate  location  or  extent.  The 
arms  may  also  be  bent  or  folded,  if  the  thought  would 
naturally  be  accompanied  by  such  a  movement.  Both  arms 
may  be  used,  but  they  must  be  kept  in  harmony,  expressing 
the  same  emotion  strongly,  indicating  opposites  in  mean- 
ing or  position,  or  expressing  different  phases  of  some  idea. 

The  hand  is  most  important  in  gesture,  because  most 
used.  There  are  many  ways  of  using  it,  but  a  few  have 
become  generally  accepted  as  denoting  certain  meanings. 

When  the  hand  is  supine,  it  is  outstretched  with  the  palm 
slightly  up.  This  is  the  most  common  of  all  positions  and 
signifies  assertion  or  emphasis  in  explanation,  affirmation, 
command,  demand,  concession,  welcome,  as  well  as  appre- 
ciation of  the  beautiful. 

When  the  hand  is  prone,  it  is  extended  straight  with 
the  palm  down  and  with  the  fingers  closer  together  than 
in  the  supine  position.  It  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  the 
addition  of  successive  facts  or  points,  but  more  for  con- 
cealment, repression,  prohibition,  or  compulsion. 

The  hand  may  be  raised  to  call  attention  or  to  keep  out 
disturbance.  This  is  a  perfectly  natural  gesture,  without 
stiffening  of  arm  or  hand. 

The  vertical  position  is  that  of  the  hand  raised  sharply 


132  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

at  the  wrist,  palm  vertical,  turned  outward,  with  muscles 
tense.  This  expresses  aversion,  repulsion,  depreciation, 
scattering. 

The  clenched  hand  indicates  anger,  defiance,  emphatic 
declaration,  denunciation,  desperation,  resolve. 

The  first  finger  is  used  to  point  out,  to  enforce  or  em- 
phasize, to  distinguish,  to  warn,  threaten,  and  ridicule. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  caution  against  some  annoying 
mannerisms  that  are  too  frequent,  even  with  noted  speak- 
ers. The  audience  is  not  impressed,  only  disgusted,  when 
a  man  jumps  up  and  down,  hurries  nervously  from  one 
side  of  the  platform  to  the  other,  pounds  on  the  desk  with 
a  book,  bends  far  over  and  glares  at  the  hearers,  or  shouts 
raucously.  Affected,  insincere  laughter  tends  to  lessen  con- 
fidence in  what  is  said.  Wrinkling  the  forehead  and  scowl- 
ing become  habits  all  too  soon,  habits  from  which  there 
is  no  escape.  It  is  disagreeable  to  see  one  compress  the  lips 
frequently,  or  wipe  the  face  often,  or  use  any  one  move- 
ment constantly.  In  fact,  all  mannerisms  become  faults 
in  a  very  short  time. 

Exercise  II. 

Tell  what  feeling  or  idea  you  would  think  the  speaker  had 
if  he  used  the  following  gestures : 

1.  Both  arms  raised,  palms  facing,  head  turned  upward. 

2.  Arms  folded,  head  down. 

3.  Hand  vertical,  head  turned  away. 

4.  Head  erect,  arms  on  level  with  waist,  slowly  spreading. 

5.  Head  thrust  forward,  index  finger  pointing. 

6.  Hand  supine,  but  tense,  moving  up  and  down,  the  downward 
motions  quick. 

7.  Hand  prone,  but  slightly  to  one  side,  and  tense. 

8.  Hand  supine,  arm  raised  almost  to  level  of  shoulder,  head 
slightly  raised. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  133 

9.  Arm  extended,  fingers  curved,  head  forward. 

10.  Both  arms  slightly  extended,  straight,  hands  with  palms 
facing,  fingers  straight. 

11.  Arm  slightly  extended,  hand  between   prone  and  vertical 
positions,  not  tense. 

12.  Hand  on  forehead,  head  not  bent. 

13.  Arm  extended,  curved,  palm  toward  body,  fingers  loose. 

14.  Hands  slightly  raised,  palms  facing,  or  clasped,  head  upward. 

Exercise  III. 

How  do  you  think  the  following  could  be  expressed  by 
the  body? 

1.  Come,  little  one,  tell  me  about  your  game. 

2.  Hence,  idle  creature,  hence! 

3.  I  tell  you,  the  next  two  years  will  see  a  marked  change  in  the 
attitude  of  the  people  toward  the  trusts. 

4.  My  client  has  been  the  victim  of  one  of  the  vilest  conspiracies 
ever  known  hi  this  county. 

5.  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  appeal  to  you  to  consider  the  youth 
of  the  prisoner,  to  remember  his  poor  old  mother,  waiting  here 
patiently  day  after  day,  sure  of  her  son's  innocence,  trusting  hi  his 
final  release. 

6.  There  on  the  horizon  rose  a  tiny  cloud  of  dust.    Two  specks 
appeared.    Swiftly  they  drew  nearer,  till  the  watcher  could  dis- 
tinguish the  forms  of  a  man  and  a  boy  on  horseback.    At  a  distance 
of  a  few  hundred  yards,  both  turned,  and  galloped  away  hi  opposite 
directions,  till  they  were  lost,  one  in  the  brush,  and  the  other  over 
the  hill. 

7.  I  wonder  whether  I  shall  ever  see  that  little  village  again.    I 
remember  how  the  boys  used  to  gather  at  the  station  when  the  train 
came  in,  how  they  ran  out  as  if  to  greet  it,  and  watched  it  puffing 
along  the  platform. 

8.  There  he  goes!  quick!  after  him!    You'll  catch  him  yet! 
Hurry! 

9.  The  lonely  woman  sat  in  the  gloaming,  by  a  low  window, 


134  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

rocking  slowly,  as  she  looked  out  across  the  darkening  fields,  strain- 
ing her  eyes  to  see  the  new-made  grave  on  yonder  hillside. 

10.  Shall  we  let  this  man  go  free,  dangerous  maniac  as  he  has 
been  shown  to  be?    Shall  we  allow  him  to  be  a  menace  to  other 
lives?    No!  a  thousand  times  no!    Put  him  away  from  among  the 
unsuspecting,  the  carefree.    Put  him  behind  the  bars  of  a  madhouse. 
Bind  him,  if  need  be,  to  keep  him  from  violence  and  crime. 

11.  It  is  a  privilege,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  be  here  to-day. 
It  is  a  pleasure  to  join  in  doing  honor  to  one  who  is  so  well  known, 
so  universally  beloved,  as  the  distinguished  guest  who  sits  beside 
me  here. 

12.  Can  we  live  longer  in  the  past?    No.    Can  we  look  into  the 
future  and  say  what  time  shall  bring  to  us?    No.    Let  us,  then, 
live  while  it  is  yet  to-day,  do  the  work  set  before  us,  and  hour  by 
hour  build  for  what  may  be. 

13.  You    thief!    You    scoundrel!    You    contemptible    villain! 
Give  me  back  my  money,  or  I'll  put  you  in  jail! 

14.  Not  one  step  farther!    If  you  dare  try  to  take  advantage  of 
that  boy,  I'll  see  that  you  get  your  deserts. 

15.  Please,  Mamma,  let  me  go  just  this  once!    I  won't  ask  again 
this  whole  year!    Just  this  once! 

16.  What  under  heavens  made  you  think  of  that?    Didn't  you 
know  that  such  a  course  would  be  rank  folly,  and  spoil  the  chances 
of  all  of  us  for  the  next  ten  years?    I  did  think  you  had  some  sense! 

17.  Oh  Jenny,  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you.     Don't  you  want  to  go  to 
the  opening  at  Wanamaker's  with  me?    They  have  the  loveliest 
things,  just  imported.    And  there  are  yards  and  yards  of  stuff  at 
the  most  ridiculous  prices.    Do  come! 

18.  Why,  certainly,  take  all  you  want  of  it.    I  shan't  want  any 
more.    I'm  afraid  it  isn't  worth  much,  but  you're  perfectly  wel- 
come to  all  you  want  to  carry. 

19.  Death  came  to  him  in  the  twilight,  among  his  books,  where 
he  used  to  sit  and  commune  with  the  great  minds  around  him. 
Perhaps  his  spirit,  in  some  other  realm,  is  now  in  still  closer  touch 
with  theirs.      Perhaps  the  truth  toward  which  he  blindly  groped 
is  now  clear  to  him. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  135 


THE  USE  OP  THE  VOICE 

Many  people  of  insignificant  presence,  and  others  who 
seldom  gesture,  have  held  thousands  spellbound  by  the 
use  of  the  voice.  A  very  large  part  of  Mr.  Bryan's  great 
success  as  an  orator  is  due  to  a  wonderful  voice,  rich,  flexi- 
ble, of  exceptional  range  and  carrying  quality.  Some  are 
gifted  with  good  voices,  others  have  to  develop  them.  For- 
tunately, the  weakest,  most  disagreeable  voice  can  be 
greatly  improved  by  even  a  little  faithful  practice. 

Many  young  speakers  fail  to  talk  so  that  they  can 
be  heard  more  than  a  few  feet  away.  This  fault  is  not  usu- 
ally due  to  any  defect  or  weakness  in  the  voice,  since  the 
same  boys  and  girls  playing  games  or  talking  at  recess 
can  be  heard  a  long  distance  away  without  the  slightest 
difficulty.  When  they  stand  up  to  say  anything  really 
worth  while,  they  are  very  demure  and  subdued,  in  voice 
as  well  as  manner.  A  fairer  division  of  the  exercise  of  lung 
power  is  "a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished."  A 
speaker  is  likely  to  think  he  is  talking  much  louder  than 
he  is.  If  he  will  breathe  deep,  throw  out  his  chest,  open  his 
mouth  wide,  and  then  throw  his  voice  out  into  space,  the 
probability  is  that  he  can  be  heard  in  the  back  of  the 
room.  This  does  not  mean  screaming,  shrillness,  nor  rau- 
cousness.  It  means  letting  out  the  natural  voice. 

The  first  essential  is  right  breathing.  Not  only  do 
the  fullest  use  and  the  preservation  of  the  voice  depend 
on  this,  but  quiet,  deep  breathing  is  the  surest  cure,  ac- 
cording to  those  who  have  studied  its  effects  thoroughly, 
for  nervousness.  He  who  would  speak  or  sing  must  first 
breathe,  not  only  that  he  may  live,  but  that  he  may  be 
heard.  Although  instruction  is  best  gained  from  a  teacher 


136  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

who  illustrates  his  precepts,  a  few  exercises  may  be  prac- 
ticed without  aid.  Careful  practice  of  the  exercises  in  the 
calisthenic  period  will  also  help  in  voice  production. 

Exercise  IV* 

Have  good  circulation  of  air.  It  is  important  that  the 
nose  be  used  in  breathing.  Otherwise,  when  one  speaks, 
the  mouth  will  become  dry,  rendering  speech  difficult.  The 
exercises  may  be  accompanied  by  raising  the  arms  while 
inhaling,  lowering  them  while  exhaling. 

These  exercises  should  not  all  be  taken  at  first,  but  in- 
creased gradually.  After  some  time,  try  to  lengthen  the 
period  of  retaining  the  breath. 

Take  position  standing,  body  erect,  chin  in,  chest  out, 
thighs  back,  front  of  ear  in  line  with  ball  of  foot,  front  of 
shoulder  with  front  of  hip. 

1.  Inhale  slowly  and  smoothly,  naturally  but  with  thought  con- 
trol, counting  10  mentally;  exhale,  counting  10.    Repeat  10  times. 

2.  Inhale  10  counts,  hold  breath  5,  exhale  10.    Repeat  10  times. 

3.  Inhale,  hold  breath  counts  5-10,  continue  inhalation  11-15, 
exhale  1-5,  hold  6-10,  continue  11-15.      Repeat  10  times. 

4.  Inhale  counts  1-5,  hold  6-10,  continue  11-15,  hold  5,  exhale 
1-5,  hold  6-10,  continue  11-15.    Repeat  10  times. 

5.  Inhale  10  counts,  hold  10;  exhale  10.    Repeat  10  times. 

6.  Inhale  10,  hold  20,  exhale  10.    Repeat  10  times. 

7.  After  the  above  have  been  perfected  without  any  strain, 
practice  taking  longer,  deeper  breaths,  and  holding  the  breath 
longer,  increasing  very  gradually. 

*The  instructor  should  give  preparatory  muscular  exercises,  for 
expanding  just  above  the  waist:  forward,  to  the  sides,  at  the  back,  then 
all  around,  as  if  bursting  a  tight  band.  These  should  be  muscular 
movements  only  until  easily  taken.  Then  deep  inhalation  should  be 
practiced  at  the  same  time. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  137 

8.  Practice  above  exercises,  lying  flat  on  the  back. 

9.  Practice  the  same  ones,  sitting  erect,  the  spine  vertical,  hips 
back. 

EXPRESSIVENESS  THROUGH  VARIATION 

No  matter  how  good  a  person's  voice  may  be,  even 
though  it  be  clear,  resonant,  even  musical,  it  must  be  di- 
rected and  controlled  by  the  mind.  Unless  the  voice  is 
in  coordination  with  the  thought,  it  is  impossible  to  ex- 
press just  what  the  speaker  wants  to  convey.  You  may 
illustrate  this  for  yourself  by  saying  "oh"  in  as  many  ways, 
with  as  many  meanings,  as  you  can.  The  same  words 
spoken  by  different  persons  or  by  the  same  ones  with  dis- 
similar expression  may  mean  opposite  things.  The  voice 
is  the  most  flexible,  expressive  medium.  We  have  certain 
feelings.  These  we  express  through  the  voice,  which  is 
modulated,  if  we  allow  it  to  be,  in  accordance  with  the 
emotions.  If  we  have  a  definite  purpose,  we  use  the  voice 
to  attain  it.  Therefore,  we  must  keep  the  voice  in  har- 
mony with  the  idea.  Most  of  us  do  this  unconsciously  in 
ordinary  conversation.  We  command,  plead,  flatter,  en- 
courage, inspire,  frighten,  please,  or  convince,  without  any 
thought  of  difficulty  in  the  manipulation  of  the  voice.  But 
some  of  us,  when  talking  to  eight  or  ten  people,  about 
something  worth  while,  forget  the  instinctive  method  of 
obtaining  a  hold  on  our  hearers,  and,  keeping  all  expression 
out  of  our  voices,  let  them  become  no  better  than  wooden 
instruments,  ill  fitted  to  their  use!  The  result  is  a  pain- 
ful artificiality,  valueless  instead  of  highly  effective. 

Why  should  we  not  take  advantage  of  that  with  which 
nature  has  so  richly  endowed  us,  instead  of  blindly  render- 
ing it  of  no  avail  by  a  stiff,  forbidding  manner  and  a  life- 
less, unnatural  speech?  However,  the  exaggerated  ora- 


138  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

torical  style  is  almost  as  bad.  What  we  need  is  natural 
simplicity.  But  this  requires  practice,  strange  as  it  may 
seem.  "The  highest  art  is  in  the  concealment  of  art." 

Monotony  tires,  variety  enlivens.  The  man  who  does  the 
same  thing,,  in  the  same  way,  day  after  day,  year  after 
year,  not  only  loses  interest  in  his  work,  but  becomes  a 
machine  incapable  of  original  work.  Constant  repetition 
of  sounds  has  been  known  to  destroy  mentality.  The  dron- 
ing of  a  prosy  preacher  sends  the  listener  to  sleep.  So 
the  good  speaker  varies  or  modulates  his  voice  to  give  ex- 
pression. These  variations  are  usually  found  in  the  kind  or 
QUALITY  OF  TONE  used,  in  the  FORCE  or  INTENSITY,  in  the 
PITCH,  and  in  the  RATE  OF  SPEED  of  the  flow  of  words. 

QUALITY  may  be  classified  in  five  varieties:  The  ordi- 
nary, unemotional  tone  used  in  commonplace  statements 
is  the  normal,  or  most  natural.  No  effort  need  be  made  to 
make  an  unusual  impression,  for  that  is  not  desired.  To 
attempt  to  make  it  would  be  affectation,  and  consequently 
unendurable  in  the  greater  part  of  ordinary  intercourse. 

1.  They  say  coal  is  going  up.    I  think  perhaps  we  ought  to  order 
this  week. 

2.  The  first  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI,  close  to  the  Terror 
as  it  was,  probably  did  not  seem  likely  to  usher  in  a  revolution  of 
all  Europe. 

3.  The  natural  surroundings  were  beautiful;  yet,  in  the  midst  of 
a  paradise,  she  longed  for  other  lands,  other  scenes. 

The  orotund  tone  is  used  when  deep  or  lofty  feeling, 
under  control,  is  expressed.  It  is  full  and  resonant,  used 
with  dignity  and  a  full  sense  of  values  to  denote  religious 
fervor,  patriotic  enthusiasm,  moral  sense,  or  any  high,  no- 
ble feeling.  Of  course,  it  should  be  used  with  care.  Other- 
wise it  becomes  ridiculous.  A  pupil  standing  before  his 
mates  has  little  occasion  for  the  oratorical  style.  If  he  is 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  139 

really  interested  in  what  he  has  to  say,  he  is  likely  to  reveal 
his  feeling  about  the  importance  of  it  without  effort. 

1.  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  roll!  BYRON. 

2.  Great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised  in  the  city  of 
our  God,  in  the  mountain  of  his  holiness.  The  Bible. 

3.  Surely  it  is  an  awful  subject;  or  there  is  none  so  on  this 
side  of  the  grave.  BURKE. 

The  guttural  or  throat  tone  is,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
natural  one  for  expression  of  the  opposite  feelings,  the 
lower  ones,  of  malice,  envy,  contempt,  hate,  revenge,  any 
emotion  which  is  disagreeable  or  selfish.  Instead  of  throw- 
ing out  the  full  voice,  the  speaker  shrinks,  and  cramps  the 
organs,  as  if  he  longs  to  do  injury  to  someone,  but  dares  not. 

1.  I  hate  you!    I  loath  the  very  sight  of  you!    I  wish  I  never 
had  to  think  of  you  again! 

2.  Oh,  you  will,  will  you?    Well,  I  guess  not! 

3.  How  like  a  fawning  publican  he  looks! 
I  hate  him  for  he  is  a  Christian, 

But  more  for  that  in  low  simplicity 

He  lends  out  money  gratis  and  brings  down 

The  rate  of  usance  here  with  us  in  Venice. 

If  I  can  catch  him  once  upon  the  hip, 

I  will  feed  fat  the  ancient  grudge  I  bear  him. 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

4.  You  showed  your  teeth  like  apes,  and  fawned  like  hounds. 

The  pectoral  quality  is  a  chest  product,  deeper,  less  con- 
strained than  the  guttural.  Emotion  bursts  forth,  no  longer 
controllable,  the  outpouring  of  pity,  remorse,  horror,  dread. 
It  is  solemn  and  slow,  not  excited. 

1.  O  judgment!  thou  art  fled  to  brutish  beasts, 
And  men  have  lost  their  reason.    Bear  with  me; 
My  heart  is  hi  the  coffin  there  with  Caesar, 
And  I  must  pause  till  it  come  back  to  me.      Julius  Ccesar, 


140  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

2.  Here's  the  smell  of  the  blood  still:  all  the  perfumes  of  Arabia 
will  not  sweeten  this  little  hand.    Oh,  oh,  oh! 

Macbeth. 

3.  Don't  come  near  me!    I  can't  bear  to  see  it!    Oh,  I  can't 
stand  it  any  longer! 

The  aspirate  is  a  higher  tone,  indicating  intense  feeling, 
difficult  of  expression  and  reluctantly  brought  forth.  It 
has  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  whisper.  Frequently 
it  denotes  caution,  secrecy,  or  fear,  but  sometimes  weak- 
ness, awe,  or  surprise. 

Lady  M.     Alack,  I  am  afraid  they  have  awaked, 

And  'tis  not  done.    The  attempt  and  not  the  deed 
Confounds  us.    Hark!    I  laid  their  daggers  ready; 
He  could  not  miss  'em. 

Macbeth.      I  have  done  the  deed.    Didst  thou  not  hear  a  noise? 

Lady  M.     I  heard  the  owl  scream  and  the  crickets  cry. 
Did  you  not  speak? 

Macbeth. 

The  falsetto  is  used  in  imitating  children  and  old  people. 
It  is  somewhat  shrill  and  high,  often  quavering,  unsteady, 
as  if  there  were  no  strong  mentality  governing  it. 

Shan't  we  go  to-morrow,  Mamma?  Don't  you  just  hope  Uncle 
Don'll  be  there  to  meet  us? 

We  have  found  that  emphasis  depends  partly  on  the  use 
of  material,  through  apportionment  of  time  to  the  different 
phases  of  the  subject,  and  through  arrangement  with  regard 
to  climax,  partly  on  the  bodily  attitude  and  use  of  ges- 
tures and  facial  expression.  But  the  use  of  the  voice  is  no 
less  important.  Emphasis  may  be  distorted,  the  effective- 
ness decreased,  and  the  meaning  changed,  by  wrong  vocal 
emphasis. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  141 

The  right  application  to  words  of  power  or  energy  in 
various  degrees  of  intensity  is  called  FORCE. 

Ordinary  remarks  are  made  with  a  natural  amount  of 
force.  Only  such  words  as  need  to  be  brought  out  because 
of  the  meaning,  or  their  relation  to  other  words,  or  their 
introduction  of  a  new  thought,  or  their  office  in  pointing 
out  something  are  given  greater  emphasis.  Read  aloud  any 
explanatory  sentence  in  this  book,  or  make  up  any  ordinary 
conversation  or  talk,  to  illustrate  this. 

The  use  of  full  force,  strong  and  energetic,  is  necessary 
in  attracting  sharp  attention,  in  driving  home  an  idea,  in 
firing  the  hearer  with  enthusiasm,  in  carrying  him  along 
with  the  speaker's  thought  or  feeling. 

1.  Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death!  PATRICK  HENRY. 

2.  Do  we  mean  to  submit  to  the  measures  of  Parliament,  Boston 
Port  Bill  and  all?    Do  we  mean  to  submit,  and  consent  that  we 
ourselves  shall  be  ground  to  powder,  and  our  country  and  its  rights 
trodden  down  in  the  dust?    I  know  we  do  not  mean  to  submit. 
We  never  shall  submit.  PATRICK  HENRY. 

3.  Make  the  goal,  boys!    Don't  let  'em  hold  you  back! 

The  weak,  or  subdued  force  is  used  when  an  impression 
of  earnestness,  sympathy,  calmness,  or  forced  control  over 
emotion  is  to  be  conveyed. 

1.  As  we  entered  the  room,  not  a  sound  was  heard.    The  curtains 
moved  gently  to  and  fro,  as  the  soft  wind  caressed  them.    Peering 
into  the  dusk,  we  could  see  her  there  in  her  accustomed  chair  her 
head  resting  on  her  breast — quiet,  forever. 

2.  My  heart  is  in  the  coffin  there,  with  Csesar, 

And  I  must  pause,  till  it  come  back  to  me.      Julius  Caesar. 

There  are  possible  degrees  between  the  natural  and  full 
force,  and  between  the  natural  and  subdued.  Great  care 


142  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

must  be  taken  not  to  use  any  to  excess.  Mere  loudness 
does  not  impress  anyone.  Continued  exertion  not  only 
exhausts  the  speaker  but  wearies  the  audience,  and  makes 
impossible  real  emphasis  because  there  is  nothing  left  to 
use.  Moreover,  straining  after  effect  is  always  distasteful. 
But  to  refrain  always  from  exerting  energy  gives  the  im- 
pression of  lack  of  it,  of  weak  ideas  and  a  poor  cause, 
and  deadens  interest.  There  should  always  be  an  impres- 
sion of  intense  vitality,  of  reserve  force,  of  strength  that 
is  not  often  asserted,  but  may  be  whenever  occasion  arises. 
A  good  way  is  to  begin  naturally,  and  work  up  to  what- 
ever degree  is  needed  to  bring  out  the  thought.  But  there 
should  always  be  the  effect  of  mental  control,  of  balance. 
Bishop  Hughes  is  a  master  of  the  art  of  increasing  empha- 
sis. He  begins  as  though  talking  in  an  ordinary  room, 
but,  if  the  subject  is  a  vital  one,  he  is  electrified  before  the 
end,  and  has  magnetized  his  audience. 

Though  some  orators  still  deliver  sentence  after  sen- 
tence at  about  the  same  level,  most  talking  and  public 
speaking  has  infinite  shading  of  emphasis,  resulting  partly 
from  distribution  of  force  within  the  sentence,  partly  from 
the  internal  stressing  of  words  or  syllables. 

In  poetry  there  is  a  regular  recurrence  of  stress.  This 
makes  rhythm. 

The  melting  voice  through  mazes  running, 

Untwisting  all  the  chains  that  tie 

The  hidden  soul  of  harmony.  MIUTON. 

In  prose  the  stress  is  more  variable,  both  in  position  and 
strength.  But  it  can  be  as  easily  marked. 

There  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  real  alliance  between  the  two 
extreme  parties  in  this  country.  They  play  into  each  other's 
hands.  They  live  by  each  other.  Neither  would  have  any  in- 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  143 

fluence  if  the  other  were  taken  away.  .  .  I  see,  and  glad  I  am  to 
see,  that  the  nation  perfectly  understands  and  justly  appreciates 
this  coalition  between  those  who  hate  all  liberty  and  those  who  hate 
all  order.  England  has  spoken,  and  spoken  out.  From  her  most 
opulent  seaports,  from  her  manufacturing  towns,  from  her  capital 
and  its  gigantic  suburbs,  from  almost  every  one  of  her  counties, 
has  gone  forth  a  voice,  answering  in  no  doubtful  or  faltering  accent 
to  that  truly  royal  voice  which  appealed  on  the  twenty-second  of 
last  April  to  the  sense  of  the  nation. 

MACAULAY.    Speech  on  Parliamentary  Reform. 

You  will  note  that  no  one  part  of  speech  is  stressed 
especially,  apart  from  the  desired  emphasis  or  clear  ex- 
pression of  meaning.  You  will  also  note  that  the  amount 
of  stress  varies  greatly. 

Sometimes  stress  is  applied  to  only  one  syllable.  The 
position  of  it  may  vary  according  to  feeling,  even  within 
the  syllable.  Practice  the  selections  given  to  illustrate 
quality  of  tone,  and  those  to  illustrate  pitch,  to  note  the 
possible  variations.  Practice  saying  the  same  thing  so  that 
it  has  different  meanings. 

In  simple  musical  compositions  there  is  a  melody  which 
consists  of  a  succession  of  notes  of  varying  pitch.  The 
tune  is  fitted  to  the  words.  There  is  a  setting  of  Brown- 
ing's song  ending 

"God's  in  his  heaven 

All's  right  with  the  world!" 

in  which  there  is  not  only  a  crescendo,  but  a  swift  rise  in 
pitch  at  the  end,  producing  a  tremendous  effect  of  the  glad 
burst  of  joy  and  confidence. 

So  in  speech  PITCH  is  used  along  with  force  to  give  vari- 
ety and  expression.  In  fact,  some  use  it  almost  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  stress  accent.  This  is  rare,  especially  in 
men,  and  is  likely  to  become  disagreeable  and  wearisome. 


144  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

But  sameness  of  pitch  would  make  the  best  speech  dull 
and  ineffective. 

Most  voices  have  a  considerable  range  of  pitch.  Some 
speakers  consider  that  at  least  eight  grades  may  be  dis- 
tinguished, but  five  will  be  sufficient  for  us  to  consider, 
though  the  variations  and  combinations  of  these  are  in- 
finite. 

The  middle,  ordinary,  or  normal  pitch  is  that  used  most 
naturally  when  making  a  commonplace  statement  with  no 
effort  at  expressiveness.  "It  may  rain  to-morrow."  "That 
battle  occurred  fifty  years  ago  to-day." 

As  the  speaker  becomes  less  calm  and  gives  way  to  emo- 
tions of  some  intensity  such  as  joy,  enthusiasm,  anxiety, 
anger  or  any  other  passion,  he  experiences  more  rapid  vi- 
brations of  the  vocal  cords,  resulting  in  high  pitch.  If 
the  excitement  is  great,  the  pitch  is  very  high.  The  ideas 
of  command  or  of  rapid  motion  even  may  result  in  the 
heightening  of  pitch.  One  unaccustomed  to  command,  or 
to  self-control,  is  most  likely  to  raise  the  pitch. 

1.  Get  off  the  steps!    Get  out  of  my  way! 

2.  Oh  nurse,  you  hurt  when  you  pull  my  hair! 

3.  Help,  help!   the  house  is  on  fire! 

4.  Cassius.   When  Caesar  lived,  he  durst  not  thus  have  moved  me. 
Brutus.    Peace,  peace!    You  durst  not  so  have  tempted  him. 
Cassius.  I  durst  not? 

Brutus.    No. 

Cassius.  What?     Durst  not  tempt  him? 

Brutus.    For  your  life  you  durst  not. 

Cassius.   Do  not  presume  too  much  upon  my  love; 

I  may  do  that  I  shall  be  sorry  for.         Julius  Ccesar. 

Low  pitch  is  used  for  serious,  grave,  impressive  remarks. 
If  they  are  very  solemn,  show  deep  reflection  or  sadness, 
very  low  pitch  may  be  used. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  145 

Brutus.      It  must  be  by  his  death:  and,  for  my  part, 
I  know  no  personal  cause  to  spurn  at  him, 
But  for  the  general.    He  would  be  crowned: — 
How  that  might  change  his  nature,  there's  the  question. 

Julius  CcBsar. 

Earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust.  Many  a  young 
hand  dropped  in  its  little  wreath,  many  a  stifled  sob  was  heard. 
Some — and  they  were  not  a  few — knelt  down.  All  were  sincere 
and  truthful  in  their  sorrow.  DICKENS.  Old  Curiosity  Shop. 

You  must  have  noticed  that  most  of  these  selections 
change  pitch.  That  is,  there  is  frequent  variation  from 
the  general  level.  In  a  few  instances,  there  is  sustained 
emphasis  or  pitch,  often  rising  slightly  toward  the  end. 

You  blocks,  you  stones,  you  worse  than  senseless  things 

0  you  hard  hearts,  you  cruel  men  of  Rome. 

Knew  you  not  Pompey?  Julius  Coesar. 

Sometimes  several  sentences  are  spoken  with  a  steadily 
rising  inflection. 

1  wake — where  was  I — do  I  see 
A  human  face  look  down  on  me? 
And  doth  a  roof  above  me  close? 
Do  these  limbs  on  a  couch  repose? 
Is  this  a  chamber  where  I  lie? 
And  is  it  mortal,  yon  bright  eye, 
That  watches  me  with  gentle  glance? 

BYRON.     Mazeppa. 

Questions  in  expectation  of  the  answer  "yes"  or  "no" 
require  rising  pitch,  unless  they  are  expressed  in  the  declar- 
ative form: 

Are  you  going  to-morrow  if  it  rains? 
You  are  not  going  to-morrow  if  it  ranis  ? 
Will  you  accept? 
Of  course  you  will  accept? 


146  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Ordinary  declarative  sentences  and  rhetorical  questions 
fall  in  pitch  at  the  end. 

So  clearly,  indeed,  has  the  sense  of  the  nation  been  expressed, 
that  scarcely  any  person  now  ventures  to  declare  himself  hostile 
to  all  reform. 

For  who  can  answer  plain  arithmetical  demonstration? 

MACAULAT. 

Sometimes  inflection  rises  and  falls  several  times  in  the 
course  of  a  sentence. 

For  myself,  having,  twelve  months  ago,  hi  this  place,  moved  you 
that  George  Washington  be  appointed  commander  of  the  forces 
raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  defense  of  American  liberty,  may  my 
right  hand  forget  her  cunning,  and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth,  if  I  hesitate  or  waver  hi  the  support  I  give  him. 

WEBSTER. 

One  should  be  careful  not  to  use  high  pitch  too  much. 
Low  pitch  gives  a  sense  of  power,  control,  reserve.  It 
leaves  opportunity  for  raising  toward  the  end  with  good 
effect  though  this  should  not  involve  ranting  nor  rasping. 
Low  pitch  saves  the  voice,  too,  and  is  more  pleasing  for 
long-continued  speech.  Usually,  it  is  more  impressive. 

Ordinarily,  RATE,  or  SPEED  OF  UTTERING  WORDS,  corre- 
sponds to  force,  and  often  to  pitch.  The  normal  rate  is 
that  of  calm,  natural  speech,  with  words  clearly  distinct. 
When  aroused,  one  is  likely,  from  enthusiasm,  earnestness, 
excitement,  to  speak  fast  or  even  very  fast. 

1.  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my  hand 
and  my  heart  to  this  vote.          WEBSTER.    Adams  and  Jefferson. 

2.  Tear  him  for  his  bad  verses,  tear  him  for  his  bad  verses. 

Jtditts  Ccesar. 

3.  Pell-mell,  helter-skelter  they  came,  rushing  out  as  if  the  doors 
of  a  jail  had  been  opened,  and  they  were  all  eager  to  get  a  taste 
of  long-desired  freedom. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  147 

The  slow  rate  denotes  serenity,  seriousness,  caution,  and 
self-control.  When  there  is  reverence,  deep  thought,  or 
reflection,  the  very  slow  may  be  used. 

1.  With  solemnities  suited  to  the  occasion,  with  prayers  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  his  blessing,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  cloud  of 
witnesses,  we  have  begun  the  work.   .    .    .  All  is  peace;  and  God 
has  granted  you  this  sight  of  your  country's  happiness,  ere  you 
slumber  in  the  grave  forever.      WEBSTER.     Bunker  Hill  Oration. 

2.  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty. 

3.  What?  thou  speak'st  drowsily? 

Poor  knave,  I  blame  thee  not;  thou  art  o'erwatched. 

It  was  well  done;  and  thou  shalt  sleep  again; 

I  will  not  hold  thee  long;  if  I  do  live, 

I  will  be  good  to  thee. 

This  is  a  sleepy  tune.  Julius  Ccesar. 

4.  To  be  or  not  to  be, — that  is  the  question.  Hamlet. 

It  is  better  to  speak  slowly  at  first.  If  the  initial  rate 
is  normal  the  rate  naturally  increases  until  it  becomes  too 
rapid  for  clear  enunciation.  If  words  are  spoken  rapidly 
in  a  large  room,  they  become  confused,  and  are  indistin- 
guishable in  the  rear.  Deliberation  aids  clearness  and 
emphasis. 

Whatever  the  rate  at  which  words  are  uttered,  there 
must  be  pauses.  No  one  can  keep  up  continuous  expres- 
sion, nor  should  he  if  he  could.  Pauses  have  two  uses. 
Those  that  are  the  result  of  grammatical  structure  are 
to  help  make  the  speaker's  meaning  clear.  If  you  will 
read  any  article  or  speech  without  regard  to  punctuation, 
you  will  see  this.  Punctuation  is  just  as  necessary  in  speech 
as  in  writing;  indeed,  it  is  more  so,  for  the  longer  pauses 
indicate  the  paragraphs  and  the  longest  the  general  divisions 
of  the  outline.  To  rest  both  speaker  and  hearer,  then,  and 


148  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

to  make  sentences  and  structure  clear,  one  must  pause,  how- 
ever slightly. 

The  short  pauses  correspond  to  phrasing  in  music,  and 
to  the  caesura  in  scansion  of  poetry.  Rhythm,  as  neces- 
sary in  prose  as  in  poetry,  does  not  mean  monotony,  or 
tedious  regularity.  Just  as  there  must  be  variety  in  tone, 
increase  and  decrease  of  force,  rising  and  falling  of  pitch, 
there  must  be  change  of  rate  and  frequent  pauses. 

Some  of  the  most  needful  yet  neglected  pauses  are  those 
after  the  vocative,  or  direct  address,  before  participial 
phrases,  and  before  but  when  it  introduces  a  contrasting 
idea. 

Notice  how  necessary  pauses  are,  in  the  following,  to 
make  the  meaning  clear: 

I  have  his  father's  letter  in  which  he  informs  me  his  son  is  set 
out  and  that  he  intends  to  follow  himself  shortly  after. 

She  Stoops  to  Conquer. 

ENUNCIATION 

Clear  speaking  is  perhaps  the  most  essential  attainment 
for  all  who  talk,  anywhere,  under  any  circumstances.  You 
all  know  how  annoying  it  is  to  be  unable  to  "catch"  what 
is  said.  You  do  not  like  to  ask  your  friends  to  repeat  the 
names  of  those  to  whom  they  introduce  you,  but  it  is  often 
necessary.  You  do  not  like  to  ask  people  constantly  to 
say  again  what  has  once  been  said,  or  risk  appearing  stupid 
because  you  cannot  answer  intelligently,  or  to  render  your- 
self liable  to  serious  mistake  in  attempting  to  follow  di- 
rections only  partly  heard,  yet  the  common  habit,  indis- 
tinct articulation,  makes  one  of  these  inevitable.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  American  people  is  of  foreign  birth  or 
parentage.  Many  more  are  careless  and  slovenly  in  enun- 
ciation, even  more  than  in  the  use  of  words.  Care  in  clear 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  149 

articulation  is  as  much  a  mark  of  culture  as  is  care  in  dress 
and  manner. 

Although  a  few  people  have  natural  defects,  most  can 
overcome  these,  and  all  who  are  normal  can  by  practice 
improve  their  speech  to  such  an  extent  that  they  can  make 
themselves  heard  and  understood  at  considerable  dis- 
tances. John  Fox,  a  famous  preacher  of  South  Place 
Chapel,  London,  "whose  voice  was  neither  loud  nor  strong, 
was  heard  in  every  part  and  all  over  Covent  Garden  Thea- 
tre, when  he  made  anti-corn-law  orations,  by  the  clear- 
ness with  which  he  pronounced  the  final  consonants  of  the 
words  he  spoke."  (G.  J.  Holyoake,  Public  Speaking  and 
Debate.)  After  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  been  wounded,  in 
the  campaign  of  1912,  he  spoke  in  Madison  Square  Garden, 
New  York  City,  to  more  than  sixteen  thousand  people. 
Though  weakened  and  under  a  severe  strain,  he  made  him- 
self heard  through  that  great  building,  an  arena  rather 
than  an  auditorium,  by  the  clearness  of  his  enunciation. 

In  this,  as  in  other  things,  "practice  makes  perfect."  The 
first  necessity  is  to  open  your  mouth,  and  open  it  wide 
enough  for  the  sound  to  get  out.  Try  talking  with  the 
mouth  shut  and  note  the  effect.  The  next  thing  is  to  use 
the  organs  of  speech  the  way  they  were  meant  to  be  used 
to  produce  certain  sounds.  This  requires  some  intentness 
when  learning  how,  but  soon  becomes  natural,  as  the  primal 
nature  of  speech  is  allowed  to  assert  itself. 

Some  of  you  have  been  taught  in  the  elementary  schools 
how  the  sounds  are  made.  But  many  have  not  yet  learned 
that  various  organs,  with  different  functions,  have  their 
parts  in  producing  sound.  You  probably  do  not  think  of 
the  palate  except  when  it  becomes  elongated  and  causes  a 
cough.  Yet  the  palate  is  used  every  time  you  say  skate, 
game,  or  yard.  (Hard  k,  g,  and  y.) 


150  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Pronounce  name  and  sing,  and  notice  how,  because  the 
mouth  passage  is  stopped,  the  sound  is  forced  through  the 
nose. 

The  tongue  is  used  in  the  sounds  of  I  and  r,  as  you  can 
readily  tell.  But  it  is  used  also  in  forming  s,  d,  n,  z,  and 
others,  since  it  must  have  such  a  position  as  enables  the 
other  organs  to  do  their  work. 

The  lips  are  necessary  for  p,  b,  f,  v,  m,  w.  You  may 
have  heard  someone  with  a  harelip  try  to  talk.  The  lips 
cannot  come  together,  and  therefore  such  sounds  cannot 
be  made. 

The  teeth  are  almost  as  important  in  speaking  as  in 
eating.  In  the  word  dentist  there  are  three  distinct  "den- 
tal" sounds,  d,  t,  s.  The  position  of  the  teeth  must  be 
changed  for  each  of  the  others.  In  the  sounds  soft  c,  s, 
cent,  sent,  ch,  child;  soft  g,  j,  gem,  jam;  s,  z,  measles,  zeal; 
and  sh,  zh,  th,  ship,  derision,  tooth,  the  teeth  are  used. 

You  have  noticed,  when  pronouncing  some  of  these  words, 
that  the  breath  is  important.  Vowel  sounds  are  pure  tone 
sounds,  the  voice  meeting  no  obstruction,  but  being  modi- 
fied by  the  degree  and  manner  of  opening  the  mouth.  Some 
consonants  are  voice  sounds  that  meet  obstructions,  as  I,  r, 
m,  n,  b,  d,  z,  th,  zh,  v,  w,  y,  g,  j.  These  require  breath  to 
help  them  out  of  the  mouth.  Others  are  sent  out  by  breath 
alone,  through  different  parts  of  the  mouth.  They  are  /,  p, 
s,  t,  k,  h,  th,  sh,  wh,  ch. 

Before  taking  Exercises  V-VIII,  practice  the  breathing 
exercises  on  page  136,  or  others  given  by  your  teacher. 
Place  yourself  where  you  have  space  enough  to  let  out 
your  voice.  Provide  yourself  with  a  hand  mirror,  so 
that  you  can  watch  every  movement  of  the  organs  of  speech. 
Use  your  fingers  to  feel,  and  your  mind  to  coordinate 
the  movements.  Remember  that  deaf  and  blind  mutes 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  151 

have  been  taught  to  speak.  Why  should  you  fail  to  profit 
by  their  experience,  in  training  and  perfecting  your  own 
good  gifts? 

Do  not  be  afraid  to  "talk  out  loud,"  or  to  make  queer 
noises.  The  neighbors  and  the  family  can  stand  it  as  well 
as  they  endure  the  running  of  the  scales  and  the  practice 
of  finger  exercises.  The  ability  to  make  yourself  heard  will 
really  be  of  more  use  to  you  than  playing  the  piano. 

Exercise  V. 

Practice  all  the  vowels  with  "long"  quantity.  Prolong 
the  sound.  Make  it  full  and  deep,  a,  e,  i,  6,  u. 

Practice  all  the  vowels  with  "short"  quantity,    a,  e,  i,  6,  u. 

Practice  every  vowel  with  every  quantity  and  variation 
you  can  think  of  and  can  produce.  Note  the  different  posi- 
tions of  the  mouth,  the  extent  to  which  it  is  opened,  the 
position  of  lips,  teeth,  tongue. 

Practice  rapid  change,  a  e,  a  o,  e  a,  e  o,  i  o,  o  a,  o  e,  u  a, 
u  o. 

Practice  regular  diphthong  sounds  oi,  ou. 

Exercise  VI. 

Pronounce  every  consonant,  in  turn,  and  such  combina- 
tions as  ch,  qw,  sh,  zh,  wh,  th. 

Watch  the  action  of  the  organs.  What  ones  are  used? 
How?  Are  they  primary  or  auxiliary?  What  is  their  posi- 
tion? How  does  it  differ  from  that  in  similar  sounds? 

Note.— The  f  ollowing  exercises  have  been  worked  out  independently 
by  the  author,  who  does  not,  however,  claim  that  they  are j  different 
from  many  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Some  were,  in  fact,  found  in  other 
books  after  the  writer  had  herself  arranged  them.  Invaluable  exer- 
cises may  be  found  in  a  book,  Illustrated  Phonics,  by  M.I.  IVEB. 


152  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  VII. 

Use    vowels    before    consonants,    with    different    vowel 
quantities. 

Ab,  ad,  af,  ag,  aj,  ak,  al,  am,  an,  ap,  ar,  as,  at,  av,  az. 
Eb,  ed,  ef,  eg,  ej,  ek,  el,  em,  en,  ep,  er,  es,  et,  ev,  ez. 
Ib,  id,  if,  ig,  ij,  ik,  il,  im,  in,  ip,  ir,  is,  it,  iv,  iz. 
Ob,  od,  of,  og,  oj,  ok,  ol,  om,  on,  op,  or,  os,  ot,  ov,  oz. 
Ub,  ud,  uf,  ug,  uj,  uk,  ul,  urn,  un,  up,  ur,  us,  ut,  uv,  ui. 

Use  consonants  before  vowels,  with  different  vowel  quan- 
tities. 

Ba,  da,  fa,  ga,  ha,  ja,  ka,  la,  ma,  na,  pa,  ra,  sa,  ta,  va,  wa,  ya,  za. 
Be,  de,  fe,  ge,  he,  je,  ke,  le,  me,  ne,  pe,  re,  se,  te,  ve,  we,  ye,  ze. 
Bi,  di,  fi,  gi,  hi,  ji,  ki,  li,  mi,  ni,  pi,  ri,  si,  ti,  vi,  wi,  yi,  zi. 
Bo,  do,  fo,  go,  ho,  jo,  ko,  lo,  mo,  no,  po,  ro,  so,  to,  vo,  wo,  yo,  zo. 
Bu,  du,  fu,  gu,  hu,  ju,  ku,  lu,  mu,  nu,  pu,  ru,  su,  tu,  vu,  wu,  yu,  zu. 

Use  vowels  in  all  quantities  in  these  combinations: 

Bla,  bra,  cha,  cla,  dra,  fla.  gla,  gna,  gra,  kla,  kra,  kwa,  pla,  pra,  sha, 

ska,  sla,  spa,  sna,  spla,  sra,  sta,  stra,  skra,  tha,  thra,  tra,  thwa,  zha. 

Ble,  bre,  che,  dre,  fle,  fre,  gle,  gne,  gre,  kle,  kre,  kwe,  pie,  pre,  she, 

ske,  sle,  sme,  sne,  spe,  skre,  sple,  sre,  ste,  stre,  the,  thre,  thwe,  tre, 

zhe. 

Bli,  bri,  chi,  dri,  fli,  fri,  gli,  gni,  gri,  kli,  kri,  pli,  pri,  kwi,  ski,  skri, 

sli,  smi,  sni,  spi,  spli,  sri,  sti,  stri,  thri,  tri,  zhi. 

Bio,  bro,  cho,  dro,  flo,  fro,  glo,  gno,  gro,  klo,  kro,  kwo,  plo,  pro,  sho, 

sko,  slo,  smo,  sno,  skro,  splo,  sro,  sto,  stro,  thro,  thwo,  sho. 

Blu,  bru,  chu,  dru,  flu,  fru,  glu,  gnu,  gru,  klu,  kru,  kwu,  plu,  pru, 

shu,  sku,  slu,  skru,  smu,  snu,  splu,  spru,  sro,  sru,  stu,  stru,  tho, 

thu,  thru,  tru. 

Use  all  vowels,  with  different  quantities,  in  these  com- 
binations, and  enunciate  words  in  which  they  occur. 
Abd   aft,  ags,  aks,  akt,  aid,  alt,  alv,  amb,  amp,  ampt,  amd,  and, 
ang   ank,  ankt,  ans,  ant,  apt,  arb,  ard,  arg,  ark,  arm,  am,  arp,  ars, 
art,  ash,  ask,  asm,  asn,  ast,  asp,  ath,  azh. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  153 

Ebd,  eft,  egs,  eks,  ekt,  eld,  elm,  els,  elt,  elv,  emb,  emd,  emp,  empt, 

enk,  end,  eng,  ens,  ent,  env,  ept,  erb,  erd,  erg,  erk,  erm,  ern,  erp, 

ers,  ert,  esh,  esk,  esm,  esn,  esp,  est,  eth. 

Ibd,  ift,  igs,  iks,  ikt,  ild,  ilm,  Us,  ill,  ilv,  imb,  imd,  imp,  ind,  ink, 

inkt,  ing,  ingd,  ins,  int,  ipt,  irb,  ird,  irg,  irk,  inn,  irn,  irp,  irs,  irt,  ish, 

isk,  ism,  isn,  ist,  izh,  isp,  ith. 

Obd,  oft,  ogs,  oks,  okt,  old,  olm,  ols,  olt,  olv,  omb,  omd,  omp,  ond, 

ong,  ons,  ont,  opt,  orb,  ord,  org,  orj,  ork,  orm,  orn,  orp,  ors,  ort,  osh, 

osk,  osm,  ost,  oth. 

Ubd,  uft,  ugs,  uks,  ukt,  ukts,  uld,  ulm,  uls,  ult,  ulv,  umb,  umd,  ump, 

umpt,  und,  ung,  ungd,  unkt,  uns,  unt,  upt,  urb,  urd,  urg,  urj,  urk, 

urm,  urn,  urp,  urs,  urt,  ush,  usk,  usm,  usp,  uth. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley,  noted  as  preacher,  lecturer,  and  de- 
bater, quotes  Regnier,  "master  of  masters,"  as  giving  "a 
prescription  as  simple  as  it  is  effective  for  perfecting  the 
articulation.  It  is  based  upon  what  one  would  do  if  he 
wished  to  confide  a  secret  to  a  friend  and  was  fearful  of 
being  overheard.  'You  face  your  friend  exactly,  and  pro- 
nouncing your  words  distinctly,  but  in  an  underbreath, 
you  command  your  articulation  to  convey  them  to  your 
friend's  eyes  rather  than  his  ears,  for  he  is  as  carefully 
watching  how  you  speak  as  he  is  intently  listening  to  what 
you  say.  Articulation  having  here  a  double  duty  to  per- 
form, that  of  sound  as  well  as  its  own  peculiar  function, 
is  compelled,  as  it  were,  to  dwell  strongly  on  each  sylla- 
ble, so  as  to  land  it  safely  within  the  intelligence  of  your 
hearer.'  " 

The  same  idea  is  shown  in  the  practice  of  speaking  to 
deaf  persons  in  an  ordinary  tone,  but  distinctly  enough 
so  that  they  can  read  the  lips  and  facial  movements. 

Exercise  VIII. 

The  following  words  are  selected  with  a  view  to  practice 
in  clear,  distinct  enunciation.  Although  there  is  some 


154  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

grouping,  many  of  the  words  are  included  because  they  give 
practice  in  several  difficult  combinations.  Each  word,  then, 
should  be  considered  in  all  its  parts,  not  for  one  sound  alone : 

Aerial,  aviation,  aerate,  aorta,  valuation,  altar,  all,  animate,  ask, 
care,  chasm,  abysmal,  amalgamation,  large. 

Eden,  ebony,  elegant,  elevated,  eligible,  err,  early,  origin,  infinitesi- 
mal, infirmary,  invalid,  machine. 

Coordinate,  cooperate,  zoology,  oblige,  odoriferous,  euphony. 
Formulate,  duty,  blue,  albumen,  cuticle,  hue,  jury,  ludicrous,  mural. 
Linear,  stellar,  parallel,  lily,  lull,  allow. 

Cram,  crux,  drum,  grumble,  border,  modulate,  march,  wrestle, 
purr,  corroborate,  rabid,  glare,  rubber. 

Blubber,  brother,  blatant,  blooming,  globular,  grub,  disturb, 
trouble,  dribble. 

Plebeian,  inexplicable,  pluperfect,  perspicacity,  opportunity,  plump, 
split,  supplant,  support,  purport,  perplexed,  reptile,  chirp,  emperor, 
empty,  peremptory,  decrepit,  clipped,  cramped,  crisp,  spunk. 
Fame,  frame,  flame,  effort,  deficient,  physical,  nymph,  conflict, 
whiff. 

Vain,  venerable,  avenue,  reverent,  divine,  dive,  vivid,  velvet,  ever, 
vehement,  clover. 

Mammal,  memorable,  mummy,  murmur,  mumble,  emblem,  prism, 
stormy,  clumsy,  strum,  romantic,  rhythm,  rhyme. 
No,  on,  knowledge,  dungeon,  clink,  now  and  then,  going  on,  lungs, 
hang,  gangrene,  tinkle,  surcingle,  entwine,  instinctively. 
Curse,  accredited,  credulous,  cracked,  tact,  click,  chick,  crackle, 
sepulchral,  succinct,  coruscate,  lectern,  king,  kettle,  accentuate. 
Choir,  quarrelsome,  question,  querulous,  squirrel,  unique,  piqued, 
exquisite,  articulate,  curious. 

Glib,  gloaming,  grave,  glutinous,  granular,  giggle,  gurgle,  gargoyle, 
signature,  glowing,  grim,  grill,  augment,  dogmatic,  congregation, 
agate,  egg,  keg,  grog,  jug. 

Judge,  jugular,  dirigible,  liturgical,  incorrigible,  prejudiced,  frigid, 
edge,  ridge,  bludgeon. 

Complexion,  mixture,  excellent,  luxury,  exaggerate,  eggs,  exactly. 
Dumb,  dome,  gladden,  Armageddon,  maddening,  drowned,  crowd, 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  155 

mouldering,  drastic,  compound,  dreadnought,  deadly,  diatribe, 
disaster,  blessed. 

Teeming,  trained,  wished,  utter,  splutter,  glitter,  gluttony,  Latin, 
watch,  optative,  abrupt,  perpetuity. 

Sum,  small,  smartly,  seismic,  slur,  strike,  spur,  sprint,  splint,  stand, 
straight,  strenuous,  distrustful,  misspent,  misspelled,  mist,  gossip, 
godsend,   assign,  assimilate,  stress,  fuss,  torts,  smokeless,  sissy, 
spasmodic,  scratch,  scorn,  scoff. 
Rise,  tease,  quiz,  ozone,  dizzy,  zealot. 

Reminiscent,  corpuscle,  fresco,  resuscitate,  necessary,  susceptible, 
surcharged,  etching,  church,  effervescent,  evanescent,  renascence, 
renaissance. 

Shawl,  shine,  shrink,  slush,  rush,  clash,  shrub. 
Azure,  measure,  leisure,  seizure,  news,  views. 
Precious,  capricious,  mendacious. 

Association,  sectional,  nation,  function,  declension,  decision. 
Hero,  horror,  hate,  help,  humid,  hunt,  hold,  comprehend,  adhesion, 
mishap,  unholy,  abhorrent,  hypodermic,  hypocrite,  exhume,  pos- 
thumous. 

Whimper,  whip,  wheat,  whether,  wheedle,  whisper,  whine,  whimsi- 
cal, whinny,  whist,  erstwhile. 

Thermometer,  throes,  threnody,  thwart,  athwart,  through,  throne, 
athletics,  mathematics,  enthrone,  enthusiastic,  wreath,  wrath, 
wraith. 

With,  booth,  soothe,  tithe,  blithe,  writhe,  thither,  hither,  whither, 
withering,  though,  although,  this,  thine. 

Distinguish  carefully  the  pronunciation  of  the  following 
words,  some  sounds  of  which  are  confused  by  pupils  in 
rapid  or  careless  speech. 

Abstract,  obstruct;  came,  come;  affect,  effect;  futile,  fertile;  certain, 
subtle;  separate,  suppurate;  ah*,  are;  our,  ere;  there,  then*;  sit,  sat, 
set;  then,  thin;  and,  end;  speak,  spick;  real,  reel;  principle,  principal; 
complement,  compliment;  despair,  disparage;  describe,  discredit; 
dissipate,  disappear;  engine,  enjoin,  jibe;  quite,  quiet;  cereal, 
serial;  series,  serious,  serous;  elusion,  illusion,  allusion;  alliterate, 


156  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

illiterate;  tell,  till;  sense,  since;  ten,  tin;  division,  diversion;  divers, 
diverse;  council,  counsel,  consul,  conceal;  costume,  custom;  ache, 
ague;  figure,  finger,  linger,  singer;  anger,  hanger;  partner,  pardoner; 
suppose,  surprise;  sowing,  soaring;  percept,  precept;  perhaps, 
prevent;  pervious,  previous;  proffer,  professor;  poplar,  popular;  race, 
raise; rice, rise;  dice,  dies;  decease,  disease;  cease, seize;  assure, azure; 
thief,  thieve;  handkerchief,  handkerchieves;  leaf,  leave;  deaf,  leaf; 
pelf,  puff;  pillow,  pillar,  cellar,  seller;  debt,  debit;  creek,  crick; 
beseech,  besiege;  pitcher,  picture;  archangel,  archbishop;  scheme, 
scene,  schism;  thing,  think,  sing,  sink;  ton,  turn;  guile,  gull,  girl, 
gill;  statue,  statute;  problem,  probably;  luxury,  luggage;  library, 
liberally;  laboratory,  Labrador;  persecute,  prosecute;  irrelevant, 
irreverent;  Calvary,  cavalry. 

PRONUNCIATION 

A  wrong  or  unusual  pronunciation  offends  or  distracts 
the  hearer.  If  wrong,  it  lessens  his  respect  for  the  author- 
ity of  the  speaker,  and  therefore  detracts  from  the  im- 
pression made.  If  unusual,  it  causes  him  to  wonder 
whether  his  own  usage  or  the  speaker's  is  right,  and  there- 
fore takes  his  mind  from  the  thought  of  the  speaker.  Use 
of  words  about  which  there  is  a  marked  difference  of 
opinion  may  sometimes  be  avoided.  If  in  conversation 
another  has  just  used  a  pronunciation  which  you  cannot 
accept,  it  is  more  courteous  to  avoid  thrusting  your  own 
forward  in  the  next  sentence.  In  public  speaking,  if  a  word 
is  used  in  an  unfamiliar  way,  the  audience  may  think  it 
wrong,  whether  it  is  or  not.  Usually,  however,  one  usage 
is  considered  preferable  by  some  good  authority.  Affecta- 
tion should  be  avoided  in  this  as  in  other  things.  To  many, 
the  use  of  ither  and  nither  seems  affected,  because,  in  the 
effort  to  appear  cultured,  some  people  whose  grammatical 
usage  and  diction  are  very  bad  have  adopted  it,  though  a 
large  proportion  of  educated  people  use  ether  and  nether. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  157 

Vase  is  given  the  preference  in  good  dictionaries,  but  some 
persist  in  saying  v az,  though  their  associates  use  vase. 

The  best  guides  to  pronunciation  are  dictionaries,  such 
as  the  Century  and  Webster's  Unabridged.  When  two 
forms  are  given,  adopt  the  first,  unless  most  of  the  people 
with  whom  you  associate  prefer  the  other.  Never  try  to 
be  different  in  this  just  to  attract  attention.  Note  the 
usage  of  good  speakers,  and,  if  you  hear  some  word  spoken 
in  a  different  way  from  that  which  you  or  your  friends 
and  teachers  use,  consult  the  dictionary.  Do  not  depend 
on  what  someone  tells  you.  He  may  be  wrong. 

The  following  lists  contain  some  words  often  mispro- 
nounced. The  teacher  may  add  others  which  his  own 
pupils  use. 

Wrong  pronunciation  frequently  results  from  failure  to 
sound  the  vowel  distinctly,  to  give  it  the  right  quantity. 

Exercise  IX. 

Find  from  the  dictionary,  noting  carefully  the  diacritical 
marks,  the  accepted  pronunciation  of  these  words: 

Affect,  after,  branch,  ambassador,  aviator,  dahlia,  apparatus, 
irascible,  algebra,  Canada,  national,  Colorado,  Danish,  was,  because, 
said,  again,  adequate,  vivacious,  ay,  forbade,  squalor,  patronage, 
patriotism,  chastening,  any,  stamp,  haunt,  launch,  staunch,  gauge, 
class,  plait. 

Effect,  get,  legend,  deleterious,  amenable,  penal,  anemia,  fete, 
creek,  pretty,  thresh,  very,  were,  then,  there,  their,  leisure,  dis- 
cretion, heinous,  deaf,  hearth,  clerk,  heiress,  seismic,  sergeant, 
mystery,  cemetery,  newspaper,  economic,  kerosene,  merit,  experi- 
ment, presentation,  terrible,  err,  heroic,  yet,  been,  specific,  bases, 
inherent. 

Biography,  alumni,  alumnae,  fragile,  genuine,  Italian,  hostile, 
isolate,  Palestine,  Marseilles,  servile,  Philippi,  appendicitis,  writhe, 
grimy,  irksome,  engine,  girl,  pianist. 


158  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Of,  office,  coffee,  God,  log,  on,  history,  polls,  phonograph,  good,  food, 
fool,  Roosevelt,  zoology,  splendor,  wound,  bomb,  foreign,  diplomacy, 
pathos,  chaos,  moral,  join,  oyster,  route. 

Constitute,  argument,  deluge,  figure,  introduce,  duly,  duty,  beauty, 
nuisance,     opportune,    puissant,    stupid,    congratulate,    column, 
volume,  emolument,  enumerate,  Russia,  luscious,  destitute,  viru- 
lent, future. 
Bicycle,  cyclic,  psychic. 

The  lack  of  vowel  clearness  may  result  even  in  loss  of 
syllables. 

Burglar,  burial,  cemetery,  correct,  cruel,  different,  history,  interest, 
Latin,  memory,  monastery,  mystery,  particularly,  poem,  poetry, 
ordinance,  probably,  regularly,  tragedy,  trial,  prosperous,  generally, 
dangerous,  privilege,  laborer,  vigorous,  factory. 

Indistinct  or  wrong  articulation  of  consonants  is  some- 
times the  fault. 

Health,  throat,  and  thin,  should  have  a  different  sound 
from  the  th  of  with,  soothe,  booth,  blithe,  urrithe. 

D,  t,  p,  are  often  slurred  or  left  out,  when  they  should  not 
be. 

Attract,  attacked,  kept,  shiftless,  glutton,  contempt,  corrupt, 
written,  distinctly,  just,  probably,  dreadful,  certain. 

C,  g,  and  k  meet  the  same  fate. 

Benignant,  arctic,  ask,  recognize,  distinctly,  suggest,  going,  doing, 
finger,  anger. 

H  is  ignored  by  some  Americans  as  well  as  by  some 
Englishmen. 

Forehead,  perhaps,  what,  which,  when,  while,  wheel. 

L,  especially  when  used  double,  fails  to  get  its  rights,  or 
is  misplaced. 
Finally,  collapse,  parallel,  lull,  golf,  irrelevant,  Calvary. 


ACTUAL  SPEAKING  159 

N  is  not  recognized. 
Government,  strengthen,  lengthen. 

R  is  either  passed  over,  or  interchanged  with  some  other 
sounds,  as  in 

Children,  February,  formerly,  geography,  hundred,  laboratory, 
library,  pretend,  surprise,  sturdy,  morning,  force,  sport,  third,  word. 

R  is  substituted  for  a  final  W,  as  in 
To-morrow,  sorrow,  pillow. 

A  mistake  more  likely  to  be  made  by  careful  people, 
because  of  their  good  intentions,  but  inexact  knowledge,  is 
the  sounding  of  letters  that  should  be  silent. 

Business,  buoy,  extraordinary,  quay,  mosquito,  subtile,  edge, 
humble,  alms,  almond,  salmon,  psalm,  limn,  psyche,  corps,  rasp- 
berry, apostle,  epistle,  hasten,  glisten,  often,  mortgage,  debris, 
sword. 

Cultured  people  have  adopted  the  slurring  of  parts  of 
some  words  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  generally  recog- 
nized as  good  usage. 
Program,  graduate,  Newfoundland. 

Final  ate  should  usually  be  slurred,  as  in 
Intimate,  estimate,  delegate,  syndicate. 

Ignorant  people  often  insert  sounds,  or  change  them. 

Atheletics  (athletics),  grievious  (grievous),  statute  (statue),  mush- 
aroon  (mushroom),  stupenjous  (stupendous),  tremenjous  (tremen- 
dous), Injun  (Indian),  immejate  (immediate). 

Many  people  in  some  sections  add  the  letter  R,  as  in 
Lawr  (law),  sawr  (saw),  idear  (idea). 


160  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Care  must  be  taken  in  the  pronunciation  of  syllables 
that  run  together,  or  take  a  sound  different  from  the  spell- 
ing. As  the  diacritical  marks  of  dictionaries  differ  for  some 
of  these,  students  often  fall  into  error  as  a  result  of  study. 

Ameliorate,  association,  celestial,  cordial,  courtesy,  ambitious, 
capricious,  omniscient,  pronunciation,  social,  nature,  literature, 
punctuate,  azure,  treasure,  decision,  rouge,  protege*,  d£but. 

Misplaced  accent  is  a  common  fault. 

Abdomen,  access,  acclimated,  acumen,  adept,  address,  adult, 
adversary,  advertisement,  affluence,  alias,  alibi,  annex,  applicable, 
automobile,  cement,  chauffeur,  clandestine,  clematis,  cocaine,  com- 
bine, compromise,  compensate,  confiscate,  conserve,  consummate, 
contrary,  contrast  (noun),  contrast  (verb),  contumely,  conversely, 
contemplate,  decade,  decrease,  deficit,  demonstration,  demonstrative, 
dessert,  desultory,  detail,  disreputable,  effete,  elegiac,  enfranchise- 
ment, envelope,  exquisite,  fanatic,  finance,  formidable,  gallant, 
gasoline,  grimace,  highway,  horizon,  hospitable,  hospital,  illustrate, 
illustrative,  impotent,  incline,  incomparable,  incorrigible,  indis- 
putable, inevitable,  inexplicable,  inquiry,  irreparable,  impudent, 
indigent,  kerosene,  ludicrous,  maintenance,  mamma,  memoir, 
mischievous,  mustache,  offertory,  opponent,  overture,  pariah, 
perquisite,  portray,  portiere,  precedence,  prestige,  pretense,  pretext, 
primeval,  profligate,  protege*,  proteetant,  quinine,  recess,  recluse, 
recruit,  renaissance,  requisite,  research,  respite,  restaurant,  romance, 
sonorous,  strategic,  superfluous,  theater,  tribunal,  tribune,  triune, 
vehement,  vehicle. 


PKOPEITYOF 
DEPARTMENT  OF  DRAMATIC  ART 


PART  II 
KINDS  OF  WRITING  AND  SPEAKING 


CHAPTER  V 

NARRATION 

Although  speech  preceded  writing  as  a  method  of  ex- 
pression, the  practice  of  writing  has  done  much  to  bring 
form  of  discourse  to  a  high  standard.  It  is  easier  to  classify 
and  arrange  one's  thoughts  on  paper  than  to  keep  the  plan 
in  mind  by  an  effort  of  memory.  Just  as  the  habit  of 
thinking  in  an  orderly  fashion  is  cultivated  by  the  prepara- 
tion of  full  plans  for  speaking,  so  the  expression  is  made 
more  sure  and  smooth  by  "practice  in  writing." 

Formerly,  writing  was  the  pastime  or  the  profession  of 
a  few  gifted  persons;  now,  it  has  become  an  art  that  can 
be  studied  by  all  with  the  possibility  of  becoming  excellent 
workmen,  even  artists  to  some  degree.  In  order  that  be- 
ginners may  become  skilled  without  making  all  the  mis- 
takes that  unguided  writers  must  learn  by  experience  to 
avoid,  principles  and  rules  have  been  formulated  from 
good  examples.  Certain  forms  of  discourse,  adapted  to  the 
purpose  of  the  writer  or  speaker,  have  been  defined,  and 
their  nature  and  characteristics  distinguished.  These  forms 
are  called  Narration,  Description,  Exposition,  and  Argumen- 
tation. 

We  found  in  Chapter  I  that  the  speaker,  even  more  than 
the  writer,  is  called  upon  to  give  expression  to  his  thoughts 
on  many  different  occasions,  before  all  sorts  of  people. 
Surely,  then,  he  needs  every  variety  of  form  to  bring  him 
into  touch  with  his  hearers,  who  cannot  turn  back  for  re- 
perusal.  The  speaker  appeals  to  the  mind,  but  also  to  the 

163 


164  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

feelings.  He  must  be  able  to  state  clearly  and  reason  con- 
vincingly, but  he  must  be  able  also  to  appeal  to  the  senses 
and  the  emotions,  that  his  experience  and  feelings  may  be 
reproduced  in  others.  Let  us,  then,  see  how  the  speaker  may 
learn  to  use  various  forms,  as  occasion  requires,  separately 
or  with  swift  change  from  one  to  another. 

Probably  the  most  natural,  spontaneous,  and,  in  some 
respects,  simple  form  of  expression  is  narration.  The  word 
itself  comes  from  narratio,  the  verb  being  narrare,  probably 
from  gnarigare,  to  know.  Narration  causes  others  to  know 
what  happened,  by  telling  them  about  the  occurrence.  It 
is  the  telling  of  a  story  so  vividly  and  clearly  that  the 
hearer  realizes  just  what  took  place,  as  if  he  had  seen  or 
experienced  it  himself. 

We  all  use  this  form  constantly.  The  child  comes  crying 
to  his  mother,  and  says,  "I  fell  down  and  hurt  myself." 
The  mother  soothes  him  and,  to  divert  his  mind,  says,  "Oh, 
you  can't  guess  what  I  saw  on  the  street.  A  man  came 
along  with  a  monkey  and  a  hand-organ.  The  children  all 
crowded  around  to  listen.  In  a  few  minutes  the  monkey 
took  off  its  cap  and  started  out  to  gather  in  pennies.  A 
woman  opened  a  window  across  the  street  and  held  out  a 
penny.  The  monkey  ran  across,  up  the  trellis  where  the 
woodbine  grows,  and  took  the  penny  right  out  of  her  hand!" 

The  boy  on  the  street,  when  he  meets  his  boon  com- 
panion, greets  him  with,  "Say,  did  you  hear  what  Jack 
did  last  night?"  and  tells  the  story  with  gusto.  The  man 
coming  home  from  business  tells  his  wife  an  incident  of 
the  office  or  the  train,  and  the  wife  relates  the  latest  mistake 
or  escapade  of  the  cook,  or  tells  what  the  baby  did.  When 
the  student  comes  back  from  a  week's  vacation,  or  the 
mother  from  a  visit  to  her  old  home,  or  the  traveler  from 
a  trip  to  Europe,  each  tells  the  interested  family  all  about 


NARRATION  165 

the  trip,  with  bright  touches  here  and  there  that  increase 
the  interest. 

We  are  all  children  in  some  respects,  and  like  to  hear 
what  took  place  in  the  past.  Just  as,  when  small,  we  lis- 
tened to  grandmother's  stories  of  when  she  was  a  little 
girl,  we  now  listen  to  tales  of  the  Civil  or  Spanish  War, 
to  recitals  of  brave  deeds,  or  to  the  narrative  of  how  great 
feats  were  accomplished.  We  would  rather  hear  Peary  tell 
how  he  reached  the  pole,  or  Dewey  how  he  took  Manila, 
then  read  a  book  on  the  same  subject.  Sometimes  the  story 
of  a  man's  rise  from  poverty  to  wealth  has  all  the  fascina- 
tion of  the  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights. 

Nor  have  we  outgrown  that  heritage  of  all  children,  the 
weaving  of  possible  stories  about  ourselves  and  others. 
Every  one  of  us  has  spent  blissful  hours,  day  after  day, 
when  all  alone,  tracing  his  fortunes  through  strange  ad- 
ventures, and  holding  animated  conversations  with  phan- 
tom beings  real  to  him.  Sorry  the  day  when  we  forget 
how  to  set  ourselves  apart  for  a  while  to  build  castles  in 
Spain!  But  we  revel,  too,  in  the  fancy  of  others,  which 
has  perhaps  risen  to  greater  heights  than  ours,  and  is 
colored  with  the  glamour  of  the  unfamiliar.  There  has  prob- 
ably never  lived  a  child  who  didn't  like  to  hear  a  story, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  most  of  us  have  hoped 
that  we,  too,  might  some  day  be  able  to  tell  stories  just 
as  good  as  any  we  ever  heard.  Why  should  we  not?  We 
all  have  something  to  tell,  and  we  can  all  learn  how  to  tell 
it,  some  of  us,  perhaps,  as  we  used  to  think  only  the  fairies 

could. 

CLASSIFICATION 

There  are  so  many  kinds  of  stories,  the  true  ones  and 
those  that  we  almost  believe  to  be  true,  that  it  may  be 
helpful  to  have  an  outline  showing  how  they  may  be  clas- 


166  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

sified.    Perhaps  you  can  work  out  a  diagram  that  will  be 
easier  for  you  to  keep  in  mind. 

I.  A  vast  amount  of  narrative  is  based  on  fact. 

A.  Collective  or  general. 

1.  Historical  happenings. 

a.  Movements. 

b.  Conflicts. 

(1)  Progress. 

(2)  Battles. 

2.  Current  events. 

a.  Accidents. 

b.  Political  acts. 

c.  Industrial  happenings. 

d.  Social  events. 

B.  Individual. 

1.  Lives. 

a.  Autobiographic. 

b.  Biographic. 

2.  Accounts  of  personal  experiences. 

a.  Travels. 

b.  Adventures. 

c.  Slight  incidents  or  anecdotes. 

II.  There  is  a  variety  of  fictional  narrative. 

A.  Novel. 

1.  Romantic. 

2.  Historical. 

3.  Ethical. 

4.  Social — Novel  of  manners. 

B.  Short  story. 

C.  Romance. 

D.  Tale. 

1.  Realistic. 

2.  Comic. 

3.  Moral — often  animal  fables. 

4.  Religious — legends. 

E.  Allegory. 


NARRATION  167 

Exercise  I. 

Classify  each  of  the  following,  according  to  the  table 
given  on  page  166. 

1.  Newspaper  account  of  a  fire. 

2.  Nineteen  Beautiful  Years. 

3.  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

4.  A  White  Umbrella  in  Mexico. 

5.  Rip  Van  Winkle. 

6.  The  Making  of  an  American. 

7.  Silas  Marner. 

8.  Miracles  of  Our  Lady. 

9.  Treasure  Island. 

10.  Farthest  North. 

11.  jEsop's  Fables. 

12.  Holinshed's  Chronicles. 

13.  The  Building  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

14.  The  Story  of  the  Lawrence  Strike. 

15.  A  Motor  Flight  through  France. 

16.  The  Charity  Ball. 

17.  The  Nomination  of  Taft. 

18.  A  joke  on  me. 

19.  The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln. 

20.  The  Battle  of  Agincourt. 

21.  How  I  met  Jack. 

Though  other  forms  may  convince  and  sway  the  reason 
more,  none  is  more  powerful  in  its  general  effect  than  nar- 
rative. People  laugh  irresistibly  at  a  funny  story,  and 
cry  as  inevitably  at  a  pathetic  one.  A  weird  tale  may 
cause  a  sleepless  night  or  a  gruesome  one  may  cause  a 
nervous  attack  lasting  for  hours.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  nurses  frighten  children,  that  lawyers  sway  juries,  that 
orators  move  legislatures,  and  that  preachers  win  to  repen- 
tance, by  stories?  Surely  skill  in  this  art  is  worth  while. 


168  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

PURPOSE 

The  purpose  of  story-telling  is  diverse,  depending  on  the 
speaker,  his  aim,  and  the  circumstances.  Perhaps  most  of 
us  think  of  stories  as  a  source  of  amusement  or  entertain- 
ment. A  good  story-teller  is  likely  to  be  popular.  Who 
has  not  heard  the  oft-repeated  request  from  a  child,  "Tell 
me  a  story!"  The  restless  one  becomes  quiet,  the  pouter 
forgets  his  grievance,  and  the  wakeful  one  approaches 
dreamland  more  quickly.  It  often  enlivens  conversation, 
and  makes  us  more  agreeable  companions,  as  guests  or  as 
travelers,  if  we  have  a  store  of  good  anecdotes.  Whoever 
addresses  an  audience  finds  it  easier  to  obtain  a  hold  if  he 
has  a  story  that  will  "take."  Perhaps  the  speaker  of  the 
evening  is  late.  The  chairman  must  keep  the  waiting  audi- 
ence in  good  humor.  Mr.  Bryan  once  kept  fifteen  hundred 
people  waiting  two  hours;  but  none  left,  for  someone  else 
entertained  them.  A  speaker  may  find  an  apathetic  or  hos- 
tile body  of  hearers.  A  funny  story,  well  told,  will  estab- 
lish a  mutual  tolerance  and  interest  that  hold.  If  the 
discourse  is  serious  or  heavy,  many  hearers  begin  to  grow 
restless  or  even  sleepy.  But  a  story  will  make  them  laugh 
and  will  revive  the  tired  brain.  After-dinner  speakers  some- 
times do  little  else  but  tell  stories,  for  they  realize  that  their 
hearers  are  in  the  mood  for  relaxation,  and  will  welcome 
the  opportunity.  Whatever  the  situation,  a  bit  of  apt, 
lively  narrative  makes  a  good  beginning. 

Though  the  first  purpose  may  be  entertainment,  a  deeper 
one  is  instruction.  An  illustrative  story  makes  the  mean- 
ing of  a  point  clear,  because  it  makes  the  idea  vivid  and 
concrete.  The  working  of  some  rule  may  be  shown.  For 
instance,  the  story  of  a  poor  family  who  had  saved  money 
for  years,  only  to  be  halted  at  Ellis  Island,  even  though 


NARRATION  169 

the  father  had  become  a  citizen,  because  a  child  had  goiter, 
shows  how  a  regulation  just  in  the  abstract  may  bring 
tragedy  to  some.  The  evils  of  conditions  in  factories  or 
mines  may  be  most  forcibly  brought  home  to  the  people 
ignorant  of  them  by  illustrative  stories  of  individuals.  The 
application  of  a  principle  may  be  made  through  an  anec- 
dote. Manners  and  customs  of  another  country  or  a  former 
age  become  far  more  vivid  through  a  story  of  a  Japa- 
nese or  Eskimo  boy,  or  a  tale  of  Robin  Hood.  The  reli- 
gious or  political  feeling  of  a  race  or  a  period  can  be  under- 
stood only  through  a  concrete  illustration  of  what  real 
beings  did  and  said  and  suffered.  When  we  hear  how 
thousands  of  Jews  were  massacred  on  the  accusation  of 
poisoning  wells,  how  a  child  of  the  Ghetto  was  persecuted 
as  was  Mary  Antin,  how  a  slave  mother  was  separated  from 
her  children  and  sent  to  New  Orleans,  how,  in  the  Civil 
War,  two  brothers  fought,  one  falling  a  victim  to  the  other's 
sword,  we  understand  situations  otherwise  incomprehen- 
sible. 

In  addition  to  illustration  of  conditions  in  various  phases 
of  life,  narrative  is  important  to  convey  fact  knowledge. 
It  is  often  necessary  to  tell  clearly  and  concisely  just  what 
happened  at  a  given  time.  An  account  of  an  accident  or 
a  fire  or  a  crime  must  be  put  before  the  public  ungarbled. 
The  policeman,  if  he  makes  an  arrest,  must  tell  what  he 
saw.  The  prisoner  must  be  able  to  give  the  facts,  if  he  is 
innocent,  by  telling  what  actually  happened  as  he  knows 
it.  A  witness  in  a  trial  is  under  oath  to  furnish  an  accu- 
rate account.  At  other  times,  the  story  of  a  mart's  life  is 
important,  to  establish  certain  facts,  or  to  form  part  of 
a  record,  or  to  support  statements  about  what  has  been 
done  or  can  be  done.  The  chronicle  of  events  is  necessary 
to  history,  for  history  is  being  made  all  the  time.  And  the 


170  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

only  way  of  informing  succeeding  generations  of  what  their 
ancestors  did,  that  they  may  avoid  the  mistakes  and  emu- 
late the  brave  and  worthy  deeds,  is  to  tell  the  stories  of  past 
ages,  and  of  great  lives. 

Another  purpose  is  that  of  arousing  feeling,  sometimes 
to  create  a  favorable  atmosphere,  often  to  sway  action. 
The  keen  lawyer  knows  the  value  of  a  pathetic  story  in 
securing  acquittal,  or,  if  told  from  another  point  of  view, 
conviction.  Speakers  before  a  conference  or  legislative  as- 
sembly may  obtain  the  passage  of  a  regulation  or  law  by 
narrating  the  story  of  a  child  stunted,  perhaps  driven  to 
crime,  by  bad  working  conditions.  Preachers,  too,  can 
bring  tears  of  pity  or  repentance  by  stories. 

Henry  Van  Dyke,  in  the  foreword  to  "The  Ruling  Pas- 
sion," wrote,  "Lord,  let  me  never  tag  a  moral  to  a  story, 
nor  tell  a  story  without  a  meaning."  Often,  a  simple,  brief 
narrative  will  show  better  than  many  pages  of  moralizing 
what  one's  duty  is  under  similar  circumstances,  or  what  re- 
ward or  punishment  must  inevitably  follow  certain  courses 
of  action.  In  short,  a  good  story  is  a  record  of  life,  whether 
it  be  told  of  a  ruler  of  the  people,  of  a  child  in  the  slums, 
of  a  petty  incident  on  the  street,  or  evolved  from  the  brain 
of  one  who  has  seen  life  broadly  and  penetrated  its  inner 
secrets. 

Since  the  most  effective  stories  are  often  the  simplest 
and  most  straightforward,  you  may  wonder  why  we  should 
study  narration  so  carefully.  As  in  every  line  of  endeavor, 
"practice  makes  perfect."  We  do  not  become  able  to  tell 
good  stories,  even  if  the  material  is  the  best,  just  on  the 
impulse  or  at  the  need.  You  have  all  heard  people  spoil 
their  stories  and  tire  the  listeners,  only  because  they  did 
not  know  how  to  tell  them. 


NARRATION  171 

ELEMENTS 

Whatever  may  be  the  kind  of  story,  whatever  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  telling,  there  are  certain  elements  that 
it  must  have,  in  some  degree.  It  must  have  a  setting,  a 
plot,  or  series  of  connected  happenings,  unless  it  is  of  but 
one  occurrence,  incident,  characters,  movement,  interest, 
and,  sometimes,  conversation. 

By  setting  we  mean  the  background  of  the  action.  This 
consists  of  the  time,  the  places,  and  the  circumstances.  It 
is  helpful  to  know  the  time  for  the  sake  of  clearness, 
and  for  assistance  in  visualizing  the  characters.  The 
knowledge  of  the  place  in  which  the  action  occurs  also  aids 
in  completing  the  picture,  and  in  preparing  us  for  the  inci- 
dents and  the  outcome.  A  story,  the  scenes  of  which  are  in 
California  in  the  days  of  the  gold  discovery,  is  likely  to 
have  characters  and  incidents  very  different  from  those  of 
a  story  of  Newport  in  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century.  A  story  of  Palestine  in  the  first  century  must  dif- 
fer likewise  from  one  of  England  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Circumstances  of  great  importance  in  determin- 
ing the  course  of  action  or  development  of  character  may 
have  existed  before  the  opening  of  the  story  or  at  its  be- 
ginning, or  significant  events  may  have  occurred  just  pre- 
viously. The  fact  that  the  Normans  and  Saxons  were 
dwelling  in  England  as  peoples  scarcely  assimilated,  the 
breach  between  Cedric  and  his  son,  and  the  crusade  in 
which  Wilfred  had  taken  part,  all  contribute  indispensable 
elements  to  the  story  of  Ivanhoe.  All  of  these,  as  they 
help  in  action,  also  give  atmosphere,  that  intangible,  vague 
something  that  envelops  and  harmonizes. 

There  are  various  methods  of  revealing  the  setting. 
Some  prefer  to  state  the  exact  year  and  town,  in  the  open- 


172  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

ing  paragraph.  Others  mention  events  or  scenes  that  give 
the  clue.  Characters  may  be  introduced  in  conversation, 
telling  what  is  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  situa- 
tion. It  is  usually  possible  to  put  in  touches  here  and  there 
which,  without  blunt  statements,  indicate  the  background. 

Exercise  II. 

Study  the  following  examples,  and  also  the  beginning  of 
each  story  on  pages  178,  180,  182  to  find  out  how  the  set- 
ting is  indicated. 

1.  In  the  course  of  a  December  tour  in  Yorkshire,  I  rode  for  a 
long  distance  in  one  of  the  public  coaches,  on  the  day  preceding 
Christmas. — IRVING.     The  Stage  Coach. 

2.  One  day  last  summer,  my  cousin  and  I  started  to  walk  to  a 
neighboring  vilkge  in  the  edge  of  the  Catskills.    We  hadn't  any 
real  idea  of  the  distance,  but  supposed  it  was  just  an  ordinary  after- 
noon walk. — Student's  Anecdote. 

3.  One  of  the  few  incidents  of  Indian  warfare  naturally  suscep- 
tible of  the  moonlight  of  romance  was  that  expedition  undertaken 
for  the  defense  of  the  frontiers  in  the  year  1725  which  resulted  in 
a  well-remembered   "Lovell's  Fight."    Imagination,  by  casting 
certain  circumstances  judicially  into  the  shade,  may  see  much  to 
admire  in  the  heroism  of  a  little  band  who  gave  battle  to  twice  their 
number  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country. — HAWTHORNE.    Roger 
Malvin's  Burial. 

4.  The  sexton  stood  in  the  porch  of  Milford  Meeting-House, 
pulling  busily  at  the  bell-rope.    The  old  people  of  the  village  came 
stooping  along  the  street.    Children,  with  bright  faces,  tripped 
merrily  beside  their  parents,  or  mimicked  a  graver  gait,  in  the  con- 
scious dignity  of  their  Sunday  clothes. — HAWTHORNE.     The  Minis- 
ter's Black  Veil. 

5.  The  neighborhood  of  San  Lorenzo,  near  Santa  Orsa,  in  Flor- 
ence, was  the  favorite  haunt  of  certain  blind  mendicants,  who  were  in 


NARRATION  173 

the  habit  of  rising  early  to  take  their  respective  rounds.  Some  took 
their  station  at  the  church  of  the  Nunziata,  some  in  St.  Michael's 
Gardens,  while  others  sang  songs  in  the  suburbs;  all,  however, 
agreeing  to  meet  at  St.  Laurence's  Bell  to  dine,  after  having  made 
their  morning  calls;  for  the  host  of  the  said  inn  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  the  entertainment  of  gentlemen  of  their  cloth.  It  hap- 
pened that  two  of  the  party  were  sitting  together  one  morning  after 
taking  some  refreshment,  talking  over  the  state  of  their  affairs. — 
FRANCO  SACHETTI.  Novella  CXL.  Trans,  by  Roscoe. 

6.  Edna  is,  you  know,  a  public  school  teacher  in  an  East  Side 
school.    The  other  day  her  class  was  restless,  especially  one  mis- 
chievous little  girl,  Dora.    Finally  she  gave  them  each  a  piece  of 
drawing  paper,  and  told  them  to  draw  what  they  wanted  to. — Stu- 
dent's Anecdote. 

7.  After    breakfast  the  first  morning  I  was  in  Bethlehem,  I 
thought  I  would  take  a  pleasant  walk,  so  I  strolled  off  alone,  first 
up  one  street,  then  down  another,  eager  to  explore  this  quiet  little 
town.     (The  anecdote  tells  how  she  was  lost,  and  unable  to  tell 
where  she  was  staying,  or  what  the  house  looked  like.) — Student's 
Anecdote. 

8.  I  suppose  the  New  York  papers  told  it  all — I  mean  the  accident 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Limited.    But  of  course  you  didn't  know  that 
I  was  on  that  tram.    It  took  us  a  long  tune  to  get  near  New  York, 
because  of  the  washouts,  but  toward  the  end  we  found  matters 
improved.    We  were  making  fairly  good  time  when,  about  dawn, 
the  train  slid  down  an  embankment. — Student's  Narrative  of  Ex- 
perience. 

Every  narrative  has  a  theme,  or  subject,  which  is  the 
central  idea  of  the  story.  If  a  child  tells  about  something 
which  frightened  him,  his  theme  is  the  fright  which  he 
received.  A  parent  may  tell  a  story  with  the  theme  of  re- 
ward, in  which  the  incidents  and  outcome  show  how  some 
person  gained  through  doing  certain  things.  A  striker 
speaking  in  a  public  meeting  may  tell  the  story  of  the  hard 


174  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

experiences  of  some  fellow  workman,  which  has  as  its  theme 
the  wrong  of  unjust  wages  or  conditions.  A  teacher  may 
give  an  account  of  some  incident  which  has  for  its  theme 
the  opposition  of  the  colonists  to  the  Stamp  Tax,  or  the 
feeling  of  the  northerners  or  southerners  in  regard  to 
slavery.  Mrs.  Stowe  took  the  abuses  of  slavery  as  the 
theme  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  The  principal  theme  of 
"Ivanhoe"  may  be  considered  the  feud  between  Wilfred 
and  the  Templar,  but  some  think  the  theme  is  the  love 
story  of  Wilfred  and  Rowena,  and  others,  that  it  is  the 
overthrow  of  John's  faction  by  Richard,  or  the  relations 
between  Saxons  and  Normans.  In  many  novels  there  are 
several  themes,  but  in  most  such  cases  one  is  the  princi- 
pal, and  the  others  are  subordinate  to  it. 

The  working  out  of  the  theme  is  the  plot,  or  thread  of 
action,  which  holds  the  interest.  It  consists,  in  a  story  of 
length  sufficient  to  have  a  plot,  of  a  series  of  incidents  re- 
lated by  cause  and  result,  though  each  incident  may  be  a 
unit  in  itself.  There  must  be  a  beginning,  a  crisis,  or  turn- 
ing-point, and  an  ending. 

The  beginning  is  called  the  initial  incident.  Although 
this  may  depend  on  something  that  existed  when  the  story 
opens,  or  that  took  place  before,  it  is  the  first  thing,  actu- 
ally happening  after  the  scene  is  laid  and  the  characters 
appear,  which  influences  causally  any  later  events.  If 
there  is  a  recital  of  something  happening  earlier,  it  is  for 
introduction  or  greater  clearness.  Should  a  friend  of  yours, 
in  telling  you  how  he  narrowly  escaped  burning  to  death, 
say,  "I  had  fallen  on  the  ice  the  week  before,  and  sprained 
my  ankle,"  you  would  understand  at  once  that  this  was  an 
explanation  of  circumstances  that  caused  him  to  be  in  dan- 
ger, but  that  it  was  not  a  part  of  the  story  he  wanted  to 
tell  you. 


NARRATION  175 

From  the  initial  incident  there  is  an  upward  movement 
till  one  is  reached  that  determines  the  outcome.  Before 
that  one,  several  endings  might  have  been  possible.  But 
some  little  thing  turns  the  scale  so  that  the  following  in- 
cidents all  tend  to  the  inevitable.  This  point  is  called  by 
some  the  climax;  it  must,  as  the  structural  climax,  be 
distinguished  from  the  emotional  climax,  or  point  of  highest 
interest.  Sometimes  the  two  coincide. 

After  the  turning  point,  the  action  continues  through  a 
less  lengthy  series  of  incidents  to  the  outcome,,  sometimes 
called  the  denouement,  or,  in  the  case  of  a  tragic  story,  the 
catastrophe.  We  feel  no  special  interest  in  what  may  hap- 
pen later.  The  theme  has  been  fully  worked  out,  and  it 
only  remains  to  shuffle  the  mannikins  off  the  stage. 

A  good  plot  has  the  great  essentials  of  all  composition. 
It  has  unity.  There  should  be  no  digressions  sufficient  to 
distract  from  the  central  theme.  If  there  are  several  plots, 
they  should  be  so  subordinated  and  interwoven  as  to  form 
a  unified  whole.  There  should  be  coherence,  obtained  by 
a  series  of  incidents  without  gaps  in  the  causal  connection, 
arranged  in  the  natural  order.  Emphasis  is  necessar  to 
vital  interest  and  clear  impression.  Essential  happenings 
must  be  selected  for  recital,  not  the  everyday  routine.  The 
lives  of  people  are  determined  by  the  moments,  few  and  far 
between,  when  currents  cross.  Though  character  is  built  up 
or  destroyed  day  by  day,  in  the  most  ordinary  circum- 
stances, there  are  certain  times  when  traits  are  revealed 
and  long-cultivated  principles  are  tested.  These  are  the 
ones  that  must  be  recorded,  and  not  hidden  in  a  mass  of  ir- 
relevant detail. 

Exercise  III. 

Draw  an  equilateral  triangle.  Selecting  any  story  or 
novel  you  have  studied  in  class  or  read  recently,  write  the 


176  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

statement  of  the  theme  along  the  base.  Indicate  by  short 
horizontal  lines;  naming  the  points  on  the  other  sides  of  the 
triangle,  the  initial  incident,  the  incidents  in  the  rising 
action,  the  turning  point  at  the  apex,  the  incidents  of  the 
falling  action,  and  the  outcome. 

If  there  are  several  plots,  draw  waving  lines,  indicating 
the  points  of  intersection,  or  connection. 

Exercise  IV. 

Read  a  short  story,  such  as  Maupassant's  Diamond  Neck- 
lace, or  one  by  Hawthorne,  or  Kipling,  or  O.  Henry,  or  a 
magazine  story  suggested  by  the  instructor.  Tell  the  story 
of  this  in  class,  being  careful  to  give  setting  and  points 
necessary  for  clearness,  and  the  incidents  vital  to  the  plot, 
without  distorting  the  proportion  or  emphasis.  Be  prepared 
to  state  the  initial  incident,  the  turning  point,  and  the  out- 
come. 

Exercise  V. 

Select  some  book  or  play  that  has  several  plot  stories, 
such  as  Ivanhoe,  Silas  Marner,  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  or 
As  You  Like  It;  tell  the  story  of  each  plot  separately;  then 
tell  the  story  of  the  whole,  weaving  the  plots  together. 

Exercise  VI. 

Tell  in  about  three  minutes  the  plot  of  some  novel  you 
have  recently  read,  making  the  setting,  theme,  and  series  of 
vital  points  clear. 

Exercise  VII. 

Let  the  hearers  be  prepared  to  state  as  they  understood 
them,  the  setting,  theme,  and  vital  points  of  the  plots  told 
as  Exercise  VI,  and  to  point  out  where  clearness  or  connec- 
tion was  lacking  in  the  student's  summary. 

We  have  found  that  incidents  are  necessary  to  plot,  since 
taken  in  connection  they  make  up  plot.  Each  incident, 


NARRATION  177 

though  a  link  in  a  long  chain,  is  complete  in  itself.  It 
has  setting,  has  a  central  idea,  and  has  beginning,  climax, 
and  ending.  It  must  have  "point"  to  be  interesting.  A 
great  many  things  happen  that  have  no  interest,  that  are 
not  distinct  from  the  ordinary  routine,  and  that  have  no 
bearing  on  anything  of  importance.  You  do  not  want  to 
weary  people  by  telling  these.  One  difference  between  a 
bore  and  a  social  success  is  that  the  latter  has  cultivated 
the  power  of  selection. 

Exercise  VIII. 

Reproduce  an  incident  from  a  novel  you  have  read  in 
class. 

Exercise  IX. 

Tell  clearly  the  story  of  one  of  the  following,  with  "The 
Treaty  of  Zanjon,"  given  on  page  178,  as  a  model. 

1.  The  Boston  riot. 

2.  The  Boston  tea-party. 

3.  Paul  Revere's  ride. 

4.  The  capture  of  Nathan  Hale. 

5.  The  capture  of  Major  Andre". 

6.  The  launching  of  the  Clermont. 

7.  The  arrest  of  John  Brown. 

8.  Sheridan's  ride. 

9.  The  assassination  of  Lincoln. 

10.  The  assassination  of  Garfield. 

11.  The  assassination  of  McKinley. 

12.  The  sinking  of  the  Merrimac. 

13.  The  killing  of  Becket. 

14.  How  Bruce  was  saved  by  a  spider. 

15.  The  escape  of  Richard  I.  from  prison. 

16.  The  seizure  of  the  Five  Members. 

17.  The  expulsion  of  the  Long  Parliament. 


178  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

18.  Some  story  from  Roman  history. 

19.  Some  story  of  the  Abolition  movement  in  America. 

20.  A  story  of  some  incident  of  the   suffrage    movement  in 
England. 

21.  Some  story  of  a  recent  political  campaign. 

22.  An  incident  of  the  Balkan  war. 

23.  An  incident  of  the  Boer  war. 

24.  A  story  of  one  of  the  Indian  campaigns. 

25.  How  some  noted  criminal  was  caught. 

26.  A  story  of  the  guerilla  warfare  in  the  Philippines. 

27.  A  story  of  Clive  in  India. 

THE  TREATY  OF  ZANJON. 

After  Maceo  became  a  major-general  and  Campos  became  Cap- 
tain-General, and  while  preliminaries  were  being  discussed  at 
Zanjon,  a  meeting  between  them  was  arranged.  Campos  was  very 
desirous  of  a  conference  with  Maceo.  He  sent  word  that  he  was 
coming,  and  they  met  on  the  plain  of  Barragua.  There  were  two 
royal  palms  of  extraordinary  size  on  this  plain,  landmarks  through- 
out the  country,  well  known  to  everybody.  It  was  agreed  the  two 
generals  should  meet  in  the  shade  of  these  palms  at  noon,  accom- 
panied by  their  staffs.  The  place  of  meeting  was  selected  by 
Maceo,  at  the  request  of  the  Captain-General. 

Maceo's  army  was  only  a  few  miles  away.  The  mulatto  general 
arrived  beneath  the  palm  trees  at  noon,  with  an  escort  of  thirty 
men.  Raising  his  field  glass  he  scanned  the  horizon,  but  could 
see  nobody.  Surprised  that  Campos  did  not  keep  his  word,  he 
dismounted  and  found  the  Captain-General  seated  and  propped 
against  one  of  the  palms,  fast  asleep.  Before  this  discovery  Maceo 
had  seen  a  horse  tethered  in  a  clump  of  bushes  200  yards  away. 
It  had  borne  Campos  to  the  rendezvous.  When  the  Spanish  gen- 
eral opened  his  eyes,  Maceo  said:  "Why,  General,  where  is  your 
staff?" 

"Between  gentlemen,  on  occasions  like  this,"  Campos  gravely 
replied,  "there  is  no  need  of  witnesses. " 

It  is  possible  that  the  Captain-General  did  not  desire  the  pres- 


NARRATION  179 

ence  of  his  staff,  preferring  that  the  conversation  should  be  strictly 
confidential.  Strangers  are  not  the  only  ones  dogged  by  Spanish 
spies.  The  Government  itself  maintains  an  espionage  on  all  of 
its  officers. 

Describing  the  interview  afterwards,  Maceo  said  that  never  in 
his  life  did  he  feel  more  ashamed  than  when  Campos  remarked 
that  gentlemen  on  occasions  like  this  needed  no  witnesses.  In  re- 
ply the  patriot  said:  "General,  pardon  me,"  and  turning  to  his 
staff  ordered  them  back  several  hundred  yards.  Among  them  was 
the  noted  negro  commander,  Flor  Crombet,  whose  inflexible  pa- 
triotism was  sometimes  sullied  by  atrocious  acts.  Maceo  might 
justly  be  termed  the  Toussaint  1'Ouverture  of  the  insurrection  and 
Crombet  its  Dessalines.  Saluting  Maceo  previous  to  retiring, 
Crombet  said:  "General,  I  hope  you  know  your  duty." 

To  this  remark  Maceo  responded:  "Retire,  and  return  at  3 
o'clock." 

Crombet  referred  to  a  law  enacted  by  the  Cuban  government 
similar  to  the  one  now  in  force  in  Cuba.  It  provided  for  the  shoot- 
ing of  any  Spanish  officer  who  approached  a  patriot  general  to 
treat  for  a  surrender.  In  telling  the  story  afterwards,  Maceo  said 
that  he  saw  the  devil  in  Crombet's  eyes,  and  feared  trouble. 

At  3  o'clock  the  escort  returned,  but  without  Crombet.  Quintin 
Bandera,  the  well-known  negro  general  of  the  present  war,  came 
back  with  the  escort  and  reported  that  on  reaching  the  camp 
Flor  Crombet  had  mustered  his  forces  and  departed.  This  reduced 
Maceo's  army  at  least  one-third.  Fearful  that  Crombet  meant 
mischief,  and  knowing  his  savage  disposition,  Maceo  was  afraid 
that  Campos  might  be  attacked  on  his  return  to  his  headquarters. 
He  offered  to  escort  him  back  to  his  staff,  and  the  offer  was  accepted. 

Crombet  had  really  gone  to  ambuscade  Campos  and  his  escort. 
He  planted  the  ambuscade  at  a  point  called  Los  Infiernos  (Hell's 
Steps).  When  Campos  reached  his  escort,  Maceo  shook  hands  with 
him  and  departed.  He  warily  followed  the  Captain-General,  how- 
ever, until  long  after  sunset.  About  8  o'clock  at  night  Campos 
was  fiercely  attacked  by  Crombet.  The  attack  was  stoutly  resisted. 
Maceo  closed  up,  on  hearing  the  first  shot,  and  vigorously  defended 


180  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Campos,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  latter.  The  assault 
was  repelled,  and  the  Captain-General  returned  to  Alto  Songo, 
Maceo  accompanying  him  as  far  as  Jarajuica. 

Flor  Crombet  never  rejoined  Maceo.  He  afterwards  disbanded 
his  forces,  reached  the  southern  coast,  and  escaped  to  Jamaica. 
This  story  was  told  by  Maceo  to  a  friend  while  seated  on  a  log  on 
the  plain  of  Barragua,  near  the  two  royal  palms  where  Martinez 
Campos  took  his  nap. 

AMOS  J.  CUMMINGS.    "Congressional  Record." 

Exercise  X. 

Note  carefully  the  following  incidents,  as  to  setting,  char- 
acters, interest.  Good  examples  may  be  found  in  Mark 
Twain's  Speeches. 

1.  Immediately  after  dinner  last  evening,  a  friend  came  to  ask 
me  to  spend  the  evening  at  her  home,  as  she  was  left  alone. 

While  we  were  hi  the  midst  of  a  game  of  checkers,  and  the  house 
was  all  in  stillness,  we  heard  a  noise  in  her  parents'  bedroom.  We 
slowly  and  carefully  crept  in,  and  there,  in  the  dim  light,  saw  a  man 
standing  behind  the  screen.  Frightened  dumb,  we  ran  out  into 
the  hall  just  as  my  friend's  father  was  returning,  and  repeated  to 
him  what  we  had  seen.  We  all  went  noiselessly  back  into  the  room, 
our  rescuer  armed  with  a  revolver. 

Still  a  deathly  silence  prevailed.  Through  a  half-open  window 
a  breeze  blew  the  curtains  back  and  forth  and  caused  the  light  to 
flicker. 

As  we  stood  in  the  doorway,  our  hero  murmured, "  Where,  where?  " 

"  Behind  the  screen, "  we  whispered,  together. 

To  our  astonishment,  he  burst  into  laughter,  and  removing  the 
screen  showed  us  a  pair  of  shoes,  which  we  had  seen  below  the 
screen,  and  a  hat  hanging  on  a  peg  just  high  enough  to  show  above. 

Incident  told  by  student. 

2.  One  evening  I  was  invited  to  a  dinner  out  of  town  somewhere. 
The  toastmaster  introduced  me  as  a  paragon  of  wit  and  eloquence. 
He  said  I  was  the  brightest  and  ablest  orator  America  had  produced; 


NARRATION  181 

that  I  was  known  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  that  I  was 
the  most  sought  after  public  speaker  since  Demosthenes. 

I  knew  I  had  to  stop  that  quick.  A  hush  fell  over  the  audience 
that  was  appalling.  The  people  stared  with  serious  eyes  and  open 
mouths.  But  there  was  a  fat,  good-natured  looking  chap  who  sat 
near  the  guests'  table.  I  marked  him. 

"Gentlemen,"  I  said  in  a  most  serious  tone,  "I  have  attended 
many  banquets.  I  have  heard  many  toastmasters  bestow  un- 
merited encomiums  upon  speakers.  I  have  heard  fulsome  flattery 
heaped  upon  undeserving  heads,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  that,  at  last, 
it  is  my  pleasure  to  find  a  toastmaster  who  tells  the  absolute  truth. " 

Not  a  smile  greeted  my  remarks.  There  was  a  moment  of  dead 
silence.  I  knew  all  was  lost  unless  something  happened.  An 
inspiration  came  to  me  and  I  gave  a  most  terrific  wink  to  my  open- 
mouthed  fat  friend.  His  response  was  instantaneous.  He  ex- 
ploded with  a  loud  laugh.  He  was  so  pleased  that  I  had  taken  him 
into  my  confidence — that  to  him  alone  I  had  revealed  that  I  was 
only  'kidding,'  that  he  roared.  The  crowd  took  his  lead  and  all 
went  well  after  that.  JOB  HEDGES. 

Exercise  XL 

After  reading  The  Sinking  of  the  Titanic,  on  page  182, 
tell  an  incident  based  on  one  of  the  following.  Give  setting, 
lead  up  to  the  point  of  interest,  make  it  clear,  be  concise. 
Do  not  give  away  the  point  at  the  beginning.  If  it  is 
pathetic  or  comic,  give  the  right  atmosphere.  Stop  when 
you  are  through. 

An  incident  you  witnessed  on  the  way  to  or  from  school. 

An  incident  you  saw  on  a  train. 

Something  that  happened  during  your  vacation. 

An  interesting  happening  during  your  childhood. 

An  incident  connected  with  your  learning  to  skate,  or  to  ride  a 
wheel,  or  to  run  a  motor  car,  or  to  sail  a  boat. 

An  incident  in  which  some  child  of  your  family  or  acquaintance 
was  the  chief  actor. 

An  incident  involving  your  pet  horse  or  dog  or  cat. 


182  ORAL  COMPOSITION 


THE  SINKING  OF  THE  TITANIC. 

I  was  on  the  deck.  It  was  a  clear  night,  and  the  stars  were 
shining.  It  was  very  cold,  although  I  saw  no  icebergs,  and  soon 
after  10  o'clock  I  went  below  to  sleep. 

A  little  before  12  o'clock  I  was  awakened  by  a  crash,  although 
it  did  not  seem  a  severe  one.  I  jumped  out  of  the  berth,  and  soon 
heard  one  of  the  stewards  calling  out  that  there  had  been  an  acci- 
dent; that  it  probably  was  not  serious,  but  that  the  passengers  as 
soon  as  possible  should  come  on  deck.  I  put  on  a  fur  coat  over  my 
night  clothes  and  hurried  out. 

When  I  got  to  the  top  deck  many  people  were  there,  but  there 
was  no  panic,  no  confusion,  no  shouting.  They  were  getting  ready 
to  launch  the  boats  and  there  was  some  delay.  The  lifeboats 
were  covered  with  canvas,  and  there  were  no  knives  to  cut  the  lacing 
cords.  So  men  took  out  their  pen-knives  and  helped  cut  them  away. 
The  first  boat,  in  which  my  sisters,  Mrs.  Cornell  and  Mrs.  Apple  ton, 
were  placed,  was  lowered  with  only  fifteen  or  twenty  in  it.  Then 
came  the  other  boats.  They  were  lowered  somewhat  below  the 
deck  level,  the  women  were  lifted  over  the  rail,  and  then  the  men 
threw  or  dropped  them  into  the  bottom  of  the  boats.  The  women 
did  as  they  were  told,  for  the  most  part,  but  some  of  them  absolutely 
refused  to  leave  their  husbands.  The  men,  lying  magnificently, 
reasoned  with  them,  saying  there  were  other  boats  and  that  they 
would  probably  be  as  safe  on  the  ship  as  in  the  lifeboats.  The  men 
were  heroes,  passengers  as  well  as  officers,  and  if  there  was  cowardice 
I  did  not  see  it. 

I  remember  particularly  the  behavior  of  John  Jacob  Astor.  He 
was  calm  and  intrepid,  doing  his  full  share  in  comforting  and  assist- 
ing. 

But  it  was  not  only  the  men  who  were  brave.  I  owe  my  life 
to  a  sacrifice  made  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Evans,  who  is  among  the  lost. 
When  my  turn  was  about  to  come  in  the  boat  that  proved  to  be  the 
last  to  leave,  it  was  rapidly  filled  with  more  than  fifty.  Some  one 
said  that  only  one  more  could  be  taken.  Miss  Evans  had  the  better 
claim,  but  she  turned  and  said  to  me :  '  You  go;  you  are  the  mother 


NARRATION  183 

of  children  and  I  am  not. '  Then  one  of  the  sailors  said  there  would 
be  another  boat,  and  I  was  carried  over  the  rail  and  dropped  in  a 
heap  in  the  boat's  bottom.  Miss  Evans,  I  believe,  did  get  in  the 
next  boat,  but  it  was  capsized  in  launching  and  shewas  not  picked  up. 

The  boat  that  followed,  as  I  said,  capsized,  but  a  number  of 
those  aboard  managed  to  reach  us  and  were  pulled  in.  There  was 
an  officer,  and  a  stewardess  whom  I  well  remember  for  what  she  did 
afterward.  A  steerage  passenger  jumped  in  as  we  were  going  down 
to  the  water.  There  was  no  manning  of  the  boat  with  a  crew,  and 
there  were  but  three  oars.  Some  one  shouted  to  get  away  from  the 
sinking  ship  or  the  suction  would  draw  us  down,  but  only  one  man, 
a  cook,  knew  how  to  row  until  the  stewardess  began  to  help. 

The  water  began  to  spurt  in  around  the  plugs  in  the  bottom  of 
the  boat.  It  looked  as  if  we  should  swamp,  for  with  nearly  sixty 
we  were  overloaded.  The  stewardess  got  us  women  to  take  off 
stockings  and  help  plug  the  leaky  places. 

The  most  solemn  thing  that  occurred  was  after  we  had  left 
the  ship  and  were  away  a  little  distance.  The  water  had  mounted 
so  that  it  was  well  up  beyond  the  first  line  of  port  holes.  I  looked 
back,  and  on  the  upper  deck  the  band  was  playing.  The  stewards 
in  their  white  clothes  were  along  the  rail,  and  they  were  singing 
hymns.  The  sight  will  never  leave  me,  and  I  have  heard  that 
singing  ever  since. 

After  the  boat  went  down  came  the  greatest  horror.  For  an 
hour  and  a  half — I  think  it  was  that  long — we  heard  agonized  cries 
in  the  darkness  from  those  that  were  trying  to  save  themselves  on 
wreckage.  At  first  there  were  many  voices,  but  gradually  they  les- 
sened in  number,  and  then  there  was  stillness. 

At  dawn  we  saw  the  Carpathia  approaching,  and  our  boat  was 
one  of  the  first  to  be  picked  up.  I  watched  the  boats  unload  and 
it  was  not  until  the  fifteenth  that  I  knew  that  my  sisters  were  saved. 

Told  by  MRS.  J.  M.  BROWN  to  a  New  York  "Globe"  Reporter. 

Sometimes  a  narrative  tells  about  the  occurrences  of  a 
day,  or  of  some  trip.  Someone  may  give  an  account  of  his 
doings  during  an  absence.  In  order  that  the  recital  may 


184  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

be  interesting,  an  incident  may  be  told  with  some  detail. 
It  is  desirable  to  tell  briefly  about  the  start,  relate  rapidly 
the  course  followed,  make  the  chief  incident  the  center  of 
interest,  and  conclude  with  the  impression  left  on  the  mind. 
The  chief  thing  to  be  avoided  is  the  recital  without  climax 
of  commonplace,  uninteresting  detail. 

Exercise  XII. 

Give  an  account  of  one  of  the  following.  Be  sure  that  it 
is  worth  telling: 

A  vacation  journey. 

A  mountain  climb. 

An  exciting  ride. 

A  trip  to  the  city. 

How  I  went  to  my  first  circus. 

How  we  spent  Christmas  at  grandmother's. 

A  visit  to  a  coal-mine. 

A  journey  in  the  air. 

Down  the in  a  canoe. 

A  daring  act. 
A  heroic  rescue. 

Exercise  XIII. 

Let  others  criticize  the  accounts  given  for  Exercise  XII, 
keeping  the  following  questions  in  mind: 

Was  it  interesting  or  not?    Why? 
Was  it  clear  or  vague?    Why? 
Were  the  order  and  emphasis  good? 

When  things  happen,  there  must  be  characters  involved, 
who  are  affected  by  the  events,  or  who  are  the  actors  in 
them.  The  story  must  therefore  make  clear  who  the  per- 
sons are,  and  what  kind  of  people  they  are.  In  order  to 
make  others  understand  why  people  act  as  they  do,  and 


NARRATION  185 

how  they  are  likely  to  conduct  themselves  under  certain 
circumstances,  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  them  so  that 
their  acquaintance  may  be  made,  early  in  the  story.  If 
you  look  at  the  paragraphs  on  pages  172-173,  which  give 
setting,  you  will  see  that  some  also  introduce  character. 
Not  until  a  person  actually  takes  part  in  the  action,  or  talks, 
just  as  he  would  on  the  stage,  is  he  really  made  known  to  us, 
although  other  characters  may  have  given  some  idea  of  him 
before.  We  have  several  ways  of  learning  more  about 
him.  What  does  he  do?  What  is  his  manner  of  doing 
things  or  of  dealing  with  other  people?  What  are  the  mo- 
tives for  his  acts?  So  his  own  acts  reveal  him.  But  he  is 
likely  to  talk,  too.  What  he  says,  his  way  of  saying  it, 
and  his  purpose,  all  show  what  kind  of  man  he  is.  Other 
people,  having  formed  an  opinion  from  these  sources,  often 
tell  what  they  think  of  him,  or  relate  instances  showing 
his  personality.  Of  course,  the  person  who  is  telling  a 
story  is  supposed  to  know  the  people  he  introduces  so  well 
that  he  can  make  comments  showing  the  light  in  which  he 
wishes  to  present  the  character. 

Exercise  XIV. 

From  a  novel  or  story  that  you  have  read  in  class,  cite 
good  methods  of  introducing  characters. 

Give  instances  from  short  stories  you  have  read  in  maga- 
zines. 

Tell  how  someone  whom  you  heard  tell  a  good  story  in- 
troduced the  characters. 

Exercise  XV. 

In  the  same  way  cite  instances  which  reveal  character, 
giving  at  least  one  example  of  each:  act,  conversation  be- 
tween or  about  characters,  and  writer's  or  speaker's  com- 
ment. 


186  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  XVI. 

Tell  how  you  seek  to  give  to  an  old  friend  or  a  member  of 
the  family  an  idea  of  someone  you  meet,  or  how  you 
give  a  new  acquaintance  an  idea  of  someone  you  wish  him 
or  her  to  know. 

Try  to  trace  the  cause  of  your  admiration  or  dislike  or 
contempt  for  someone  you  know.  When  and  how  did  it 
start?  Has  further  acquaintance  increased  or  lessened  your 
first  feeling? 

Exercise  XVII. 

Tell  an  incident,  either  from  your  own  experience  in  con- 
tact with  another  person,  or  from  something  you  have  wit- 
nessed, which  clearly  indicates  some  marked  characteristic. 
An  incident  on  a  street  car,  in  a  department  store,  or  in 
school,  a  street  accident,  and  various  others,  may  furnish 
material.  Sometimes  an  anecdote  of  a  child  or  a  servant 
shows  some  trait. 

Note  the  following  examples.  What  traits  are  revealed? 
How? 

1.  This  afternoon,  just  after  I  was  seated  in  a  pay-as-you-enter 
car  on  Eighth  Avenue,  a  large,  aggressive-looking  colored  woman 
boarded  the  car,  and  offered  the  conductor  a  bill. 

"I  can't  change  a  five  dollar  bill,"  he  exclaimed  harshly.  "Let 
the  people  in!" 

Several  crowded  past,  at  the  next  corner.  Then  the  woman 
returned  to  the  siege.  "You  got  to  give  me  change,"  she  urged, 
glaring  at  him. 

"I  tell  you  I  won't,"  he  persisted,  with  an  oath.  "You  give  me 
something  smaller  or  get  off  the  car!" 

But  the  woman  stood  her  ground,  crowded  into  a  corner  of  the 
platform  while  more  people  entered.  As  the  conductor  gave  the 
starting  bell  a  vicious  jerk,  she  stepped  toward  him,  shouting, 
"You're  too  fresh,  you  are,"  adding,  with  an  abusive  epithet,  "I'll 
let  you  know  I'm  as  good  as  you  are,  if  my  face  is  black.  I'm  a 
lady,  I  am."  By  this  time  everybody  in  the  car  was  looking  at 


NARRATION  187 

her.     "  Til  report  you,  I  will.    I  guess  you'll  learn  how  to  treat  a 
lady!" 

The  conductor  collected  fares  from  another  group  of  people,  then, 
as  he  vehemently  stamped  the  lever  recording  fares,  drew  change 
from  several  pockets  and  counted  it  into  the  woman's  hand.  She 
triumphantly  marched  to  the  front  of  the  car,  regardless  of  stares. 

2.  On  the  outskirts  of  Louisiana,  Missouri,  stand  four  immense 
sugar  trees,  which,  if  the  Druidical  religion  were  in  vogue  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  would  be  set  aside  as  objects  of  worship  by  Demo- 
crats. They  form  the  corners  of  a  rectangle  about  large  enough  for 
a  speaker's  platform.  Beneath  their  grateful  shadow,  with  the 
Father  of  Waters  behind  him,  and  the  eternal  hills  in  front  of  him, 
the  blue  sky  above  his  head,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  and  curious 
concourse  of  people,  Frank  Blah-  made  the  first  Democratic  speech  in 
Missouri  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Excitement  was  intense, 
and  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion  abounded  on  every  hand.  When 
Blair  arose  to  speak  he  unbuckled  his  pistol  belt  and  coolly  laid  two 
navy  revolvers  on  the  table.  He  prefaced  his  remarks  as  follows. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  I  understand  that  I  am  to  be  killed  here  to-day. 
I  have  just  come  out  of  four  years  of  that  sort  of  business.  If 
there  is  to  be  any  of  it  here,  it  had  better  be  attended  to  before  the 
speaking  begins." 

That  calm  but  pregnant  exordium  has  perhaps  no  counterpart  in 
the  entire  range  of  oratory. 

"There  was  silence  deep  as  death, 
And  the  boldest  held  his  breath, 
For  a  tune." 

He  then  proceeded  with  his  speech,  but  had  not  been  going  more 
than  five  minutes  when  a  man  of  gigantic  proportions  started 
toward  him,  shaking  his  huge  fist  and  shouting:  "He's  an  arrant 
rebel!  Take  him  out.  Take  him  out ! "  Blair  stopped,  looked  the 
man  in  the  face,  crooked  his  finger  at  him,  and  said:  "You  come 
and  take  me  out!"  which  put  an  end  to  that  episode,  for  the  man 
who  was  yelling  "Take  him  out!"  suddenly  realized  that  Blair's 
index  finger  which  was  beckoning  him  on  would  soon  be  pressing 


188  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  trigger  of  one  of  those  pistols  if  he  did  go  on,  and  he  prudently 
declined  Blair's  invitation. 

From  address  by  CHAMP  CLARK  at  presentation  of  bust  of 
Blair  to  the  United  States  by  Missouri.  "World's  Best  Orations." 
Copyright  by  Ferd.  P.  Kaiser  Publishing  Company. 

TECHNIQUE 

When  nine-volume  novels  were  popular,  possibly  people 
were  willing  to  listen  to  long  stories,  as  they  were  to  read 
them.  But  now,  just  as  we  all  read  the  hundred-page  novel 
and  the  short  story,  we  want  our  friends  to  avoid  long- 
windedness,  and  tell  us  a  story  rapidly.  You  doubtless 
know  elderly  people  who  start  to  tell  something  and  then 
"get  side-tracked"  by  trying  to  straighten  out  some  doubt- 
ful point  that  really  hasn't  any  connection  with  the  story 
itself.  A  neighbor  comes  in  and  begins  to  tell  something 
that  happened  to  another  neighbor. 

"It  was  last  Wednesday — or  was  it  Tuesday? — that  John  came 
home.  Yes,  it  must  have  been  Tuesday,  because  I  was  baking  my 
bread,  and  I  had  just  opened  the  oven  door  to  look  at  it,  and  I  saw 
that  I  hadn't  put  the  grate  down  as  I  always  do,  and  the  bread  had 
burned.  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  it  was  Tuesday,  and  Maria  came 
over  to  borrow  my  crepe  veil  to  wear  to  a  funeral.  Her  brother- 
in-law  over  to  Milton  Center  had  died  very  unexpectedly,  and  she 
knew  her  sister  would  be  offended  if  she  didn't  wear  black.  Well, 
she  said  she  had  heard  that  John  was  coming  home  that  day,"  etc. 

Naturally,  the  hearer  is  somewhat  bewildered,  and  has 
lost  interest  in  what  did  happen  to  John  or  his  family. 

A  good  story  has  movement.  Things  happen.  The  action 
proceeds  swiftly,  "gets  somewhere."  Most  of  the  incidents 
must  advance  the  plot,  though  some  may  be  useful  in  show- 
ing character  or  atmosphere.  The  movement  must  be  well 
proportioned,  too,  so  that  there  is  no  lagging  in  one  part 


NARRATION  189 

and  crowding  in  another.  Usually  the  latter  part  should 
move  more  swiftly  than  the  first.  People  dislike  to  have  the 
outcome  held  off  too  long. 

In  order  to  obtain  smooth,  steady  movement,  it  is  helpful 
to  keep  the  same  point  of  view,  as  far  as  possible.  If  this 
is  not  done  it  is  difficult  to  keep  the  hearer's  mind  on  the 
development.  It  is  necessary  to  keep  the  central  idea  al- 
ways in  mind,  allowing  nothing  that  distracts  from  it,  but 
causing  every  element  to  help  in  some  way  in  the  unfolding 
of  the  plot.  It  is  easier  to  do  this  in  biography,  because 
one  person  is  the  center  of  interest,  and  others  are  brought 
in  only  as  they  affect  his  life  and  work.  In  history  it  is 
more  difficult  to  keep  all  phases  clearly  before  the  hearer 
without  the  effect  of  jerkiness.  Adherence  to  the  natural 
time  order  helps  in  avoiding  this  in  ordinary  narrative. 

Exercise  XVIII. 

Tell  the  story  of  some  play  that  you  have  seen  or  read. 
Try  to  keep  the  same  relative  movement. 

Exercise  XIX. 
Tell  the  story  of  one  of  the  following: 

1.  The  coining  of  the  Armada  to  England. 

2.  One  of  the  crusades. 

3.  Napoleon's  return  from  exile. 

4.  Whitman's  journey  to  Oregon. 

5.  How  Stanley  found  Livingstone. 

6.  A  journey  overland  to  California  in  '49  (see  "Century,"  1892). 

7.  Peary's,  or  Amundsen's,  or  Scott's  dash  for  the  Pole. 

Give  an  account  of  a  fire. 

Give  an  account  of  a  game  between  your  school  and  an- 
other. 


190  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  XX. 

Tell  the  story  of  a  life,  based  on  one  of  the  following 
books,  or  some  similar  one  that  you  have  read.  Make  the 
narrative  perfectly  clear,  as  to  subject,  setting,  and  course 
of  life.  Observe  proportion  and  keep  the  person  who  is  the 
center  of  interest  clearly  before  the  hearer.  Pass  over  un- 
important details  lightly,  but  emphasize  critical  points  in 
the  career. 

Life  of  Alice  Freeman  Palmer. — G.  H.  PALMER. 

Glimpses  of  Fifty  Years. — FRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 

Life  of  Samuel  Johnson.— T.  B.  MACAULAY. 

Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay. — G.  O.  TREVELYAN. 

Life  and  Letters  of  Louisa  M.  Alcott. — EDNA  CHENEY. 

Oliver  Cromwell. — THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

Life  of  Walter  Scott— A.  LANG. 

Life  of  Goldsmith. — W.  IRVING. 

Ccssar. — J.  A.  FROUDE. 

Autobiography. — BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

Story  of  My  Life. — HELEN  KELLER. 

Life  of  Nelson. — ROBERT  SOUTHEY. 

Whittier:    Life  and  Letters— S.  T.  PICKABD. 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne. — HENRY  JAMES. 

The  Making  of  an  American. — JACOB  Rus. 

Theodore  Roosevelt. — JACOB  Rus. 

Life  of  Lincoln. — IDA  M.  TARBELL. 

Up  from  Slavery. — BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON. 

The  Promised  Land. — MARY  ANTIN. 

Exercise  XXI. 

Give  in  class,  in  a  two-minute  talk,  a  sketch  of  the  life  of 
the  author  whose  work  you  are  now  reading,  or  of  one  whose 
work  you  especially  like,  or  of  some  statesman  or  ruler 
about  whom  you  are  reading  in  history,  or  of  some  scientist 
whose  discoveries  you  are  studying. 

Be  careful  to  make  clear  the  parentage,  environment,  edu- 
cation, course  of  mature  life,  and  important  work. 


NARRATION  191 

Exercise  XXII. 

Perhaps  some  prominent  man  has  just  come  to  this  coun- 
try to  travel,  to  give  lectures,  or  to  attend  a  conference. 
Possibly  a  noted  man  has  just  died,  or  is  very  ill.  Some 
scientist  may  have  made  an  important  discovery.  A  states- 
man is  much  before  the  public  because  of  some  recent  act 
or  office-seeking.  Give,  in  chapel  or  before  the  class,  an 
account  of  his  life,  not  more  than  five  minutes  in  length. 
See  page  249,  Exercise  XVI,  for  a  talk  supplementary  to 
this. 

Exercise  XXIII. 

Tell  the  life  story  of  some  boy  or  girl,  or  some  person 
known  to  you,  but  not  to  the  class,  whose  life  seems  to  you 
of  especial  interest  for  some  reason.  Tell  it  so  as  to  bring 
out  the  points  that  make  it  worth  telling. 

If  we  wish  to  keep  the  attention  of  the  hearer,  and  cause 
him  to  want  to  hear  the  end,  and  then  to  look  forward  to 
another  story,  we  must  interest  him,  in  spite  of  himself. 
The  subject  of  the  story  should  appeal  to  his  previous  in- 
terests. A  child  likes  a  fairy  story,  or  one  of  olden  times. 
The  hero  must  loom  large.  The  boy  eagerly  listens  to 
stories  of  adventure,  of  daring,  of  winning  one's  way  against 
odds.  The  girl  may  be  more  interested  in  stories  of  girl  life 
or  sentiment.  People  who  lead  commonplace  lives  often 
prefer  tales  of  wealth  and  royalty.  The  student  of  history 
or  customs  turns  with  delight  to  a  narrative  that  makes 
some  remote  period  more  vivid.  The  gay  want  bright,  lively 
stories  that  end  happily,  but  the  serious  may  revel  in  trag- 
edy. 

Everybody  wants  to  know  how  the  story  comes  out.  But 
there  are  developments  to  be  awaited.  The  ending  should 
not  be  disclosed  before  it  is  reached.  Suspense  may  be 
kept  up  by  various  devices.  There  may  be  a  mystery  of 
some  kind.  Possibly  someone  is  in  disguise.  One  character 


192  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

may  be  under  a  false  impression.  There  may  be  several 
possible  outcomes.  Each  incident  must  have  some  interest 
in  itself,  as  to  its  outcome.  It  must  look  forward  to  another. 

The  environment,  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
people,  may  be  so  portrayed  as  to  be  of  great  interest.  The 
place  may  be  a  quaint  old  town,  or  one  in  a  strange  land. 
The  inhabitants  may  be  peculiar,  or  have  ways  unfamiliar 
to  most  people.  The  individuals  perhaps  have  some  striking 
characteristics.  If  you  begin  to  tell  the  story  of  a  miser  or 
a  hermit  or  a  mighty  hunter  or  a  sailor,  it  attracts  atten- 
tion, because  these  characters  are  unusual,  unfamiliar  to 
everyday  life. 

The  element  of  probability  must  be  considered  in  modern 
accounts.  If  a  thing  is  regarded  as  impossible  the  hearers 
scoff  at  it.  There  must  be  some  analogy  to  what  is  already 
known.  The  actions  and  events  must  be  in  harmony  with 
the  rest  of  the  story,  and  with  the  characters.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  characters  of  strongly  marked  types  to  act  in  ways 
foreign  to  their  instincts  and  traditions.  Preparation  for 
events,  by  suggestion  of  their  possibility,  or  by  emphasis  on 
traits  of  character,  or  by  making  a  certain  course  possible, 
leads  the  hearer  to  accept  what  might  otherwise  be  rejected. 
The  narrator  should  work  steadily  toward  the  end,  leading 
to  it  carefully  and  surely. 

Narrative  appeals  not  so  much  to  cold  reason  as  to  the 
emotions.  Some  people  want  to  laugh  or  cry  over  every 
story.  They  want  to  be  taken  out  of  their  ordinary 
thoughts  and  associations,  and  to  think  of  these  beings  as 
real,  as  people  whom  they  might  see  in  the  flesh  at  any 
time.  Humor  and  comedy  may  find  a  place  even  in  the 
saddest  story.  In  Hamlet  the  grave-diggers'  scene  is  comic. 
In  Macbeth  the  porter's  scene,  just  after  the  murder,  is 
laughable.  That  is  like  human  life.  The  comic  and  the 


NARRATION  193 

pathetic  are  frequently  mingled.  A  touch  of  pathos  can  be 
introduced  in  almost  any  story,  whether  of  a  real  person 
or  a  creature  of  the  brain.  Sympathy  leads  to  interest.  So 
an  incident  or  the  portrayal  of  a  condition  that  shows  in- 
justice arouses  feeling,  and  the  hearer  is  anxious  to  know 
whether  it  was  overcome.  Anything  that  arouses  feeling 
will  increase  interest. 

Another  element  is  vividness.  People  are  most  interested 
in  what  they  see.  They  must,  then,  be  made  to  visualize 
what  is  told  them.  Description  of  characters  or  scenes  may 
be  introduced.  Some  explanation  may  help  in  affording 
clearness.  Lack  of  it  does  not  always  increase,  but  may 
deaden,  interest.  Conversation  often  enlivens  an  otherwise 
tedious  tale.  It  also  helps  make  the  situation  clear  and 
reveals  character.  It  may  advance  the  plot  by  inducing 
action. 

Exercise  XXIV. 

Give  an  account  of  some  conversation  heard  in  a  public 
place,  which  reveals  character  or  tells  a  story. 

Exercise  XXV. 

Let  two  girls  or  two  boys  engage  in  conversation  before 
the  class,  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the  story,  by  question 
and  answer,  of  some  happening. 

See  also  topics  for  conversations  on  pages  332,  346,  351. 

Exercise  XXVI. 

After  reading  and  criticizing  the  outlines  on  pages  194- 
196,  plan  a  short  story,  to  take  five  or  six  minutes  or  less, 
on  a  theme  similar  to  those  suggested  on  page  197.  Ask 
yourself  the  following  questions:  Is  the  theme  one  that  will 
interest  my  audience?  Is  it  not  trivial?  Is  it  too  big?  Can 
I  treat  it  adequately? 


194  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Has  the  plot  interest?  Has  it  sufficient  body?  Are  the 
incidents  causally  connected?  What  marks  the  beginning, 
the  turning-point,  the  ending?  Are  the  incidents  in  them- 
selves significant?  Does  the  plot  move?  Is  it  probable? 
Is  there  sufficient  suspense? 

What  is  the  setting?  What  method  shall  I  use  to  indicate 
it?  Can  I  tell  the  story  better  in  the  first  or  third  person? 
Which  will  give  most  vividness  and  verisimilitude?  Which 
will  necessitate  the  least  indirect  statement?  Which  gives 
widest  range? 

How  shall  characters  be  introduced?  How  portrayed? 
How  disposed  of  when  not  wanted? 

What  methods  can  I  use  to  increase  interest  and  sus- 
pense? What  devices  may  add  interest  or  solve  difficulties? 
How  can  I  prepare  the  hearer  for  a  startling  outcome? 


OUTLINES  FOR   STORIES   TOLD  IN  CLASS 

THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  PERSONS  BOYS 

I.  Setting. 

A.  Time:    autumn,  a  few  years  ago. 

B.  Place:    a  farm  in  the  prairie  district  of  Kansas. 

II.  Theme. 

The  Adventure  of  the  Persons  boys  with  a  pack  of  wolves. 

III.  Characters. 

A.  Major. 

1.  Mr.  Persons. 

2.  His  son,  Will. 

3.  His  son,  Kane. 

B.  Minor. 

1.  Mrs.  Persons. 

2.  Mike  O'Brien,  a  neighbor. 

3.  Captain  Vickory,  a  neighbor. 

4.  Ned  Smith,  the  rural  mail  man. 


NARRATION  195 

IV.  Plot. 

A.  Introduction. 

1.  Antecedent  incidents. 

a.  Mr.  Persons  promised  the  boys  that  they 
could  go  to  the  circus  if  they  finished  cutting 
the  corn. 

b.  They  failed  to  do  this,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  father  had  lent  the  large  wagon 
box  to  neighbor  Vickory  for  a  wolf  trap. 

2.  Existing  circumstances. 

a.  The  boys  have  been  kept  at  home. 

b.  The  boys  are  angry  and  dissatisfied. 

B.  Initial  incident :  they  set  fire  to  the  nut  grove. 
G.  Rising  action. 

1.  O'Brien's  report  to  their  father. 

2.  Their  flight  from  home. 

3.  Hearing  the  wolves. 

4.  Flight  through  high  com. 

D.  Turning  point :    Kane's  fall  against  the  wagon  box. 

E.  Falling  action. 

1.  Escape  into  overturned  wagon  box. 

2.  Discovery  by  hunters. 

3.  Return  home. 

F.  Outcome. 

1.  Father's  forgiveness. 

2.  Content  restored. 

3.  Visit  to  circus  next  day. 

Student's  plan. 

THE  INTRUDERS 

I.  Setting. 

A.  Time:    summer  evening  and  morning  following. 

B.  Place:    country  house  with  terrace,  in  woods. 

II.  Theme:    adventure  with  intruders. 


196  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

III.  Characters. 

A.  The  young  mistress,  Lillian  Young. 

B.  Her  guests. 

1.  Jean. 

2.  Florence. 

3.  Edward. 

C.  The  maid,  Ida. 

D.  Officers. 

1.  Policeman. 

2.  Constable. 

IV.  Plot. 

A.  Introduction. 

1.  Lillian  has  been  left  alone. 

2.  She  invites  Jean  and  her  brother,  Edward,  and 
Florence,  to  spend  the  night. 

B.  Initial  incident :  on  the  way  to  Lillian's,  the  three  meet 
two  suspicious  looking  men. 

C.  Rising  action. 

1.  After  dinner  Lillian  hears  a  noise  in  cellar. 

2.  In  a  short  time  Jean  hears  a  box  fall. 

3.  As  Lillian  calls  Ida  to  question  her,  Edward  hears 
a  low  whistle. 

4.  Edward  turns  off  lights. 

5.  Lillian  and  Florence  run  up-stairs  for  a  revolver. 

6.  The  maid  and  Jean  get  canes. 

D.  Climax:    as  they  peer  from  the  window,  they  see  two 
crouching  figures  at  side  of  house. 

E.  Falling  action. 

1.  Edward  telephones  to  the  police  office  in  the  vil- 
lage. 

2.  After  what  seems  a  long  wait,  the  policeman  and 
constable  are  seen  coming  up  the  road  on  bicycles. 

3.  As  these  approach,  the  two  men  run  to  rear  ter- 
race and  slide  down. 

4.  Girls  beg  policeman  to  remain  on  guard. 


NARRATION  197 

F.  Conclusion. 

1.  When  the  parents  return  next  day,  they  search 
and  find  case  of  wine  in  cellar  upset  and  bottles 
missing.  Student's  plan. 

SUGGESTED  TITLES 

The  Hunter  hunted.  An  Unexpected  Guest. 

The  Eagle's  Nest.  An  Exciting  Adventure. 

Making  the  Goal.  Our  Encounter  with  a  Burglar. 

Filling  the  Captain's  Place.  Under  Orders. 

The  Race  against  Time.  Lost  on  the  Mountain. 

In  the  Path  of  the  Flood.  Adrift  on  the  Bay. 

At  the  Post  of  Danger.  Captive  on  a  Ship. 

Loyal  to  serve.  The  Masquerader. 

The  Fire-signal.  An  Amateur  Detective. 

How  Graham  won  the  Block  The  Engineer's  Last  Trip. 

Letter.  How  Tony  was  Inspected. 

The  Contest  for  the  Medal.  The  Fate  of  an  Easter  Bonnet. 

Following  the  Trail.  How  Mary  adopted  Parents. 

Exercise  XXVII. 

Let  the  class  discuss  a  number  of  the  plans,  as  to  good 
and  bad  qualities. 

Exercise  XXVIII. 

Let  each  pupil  suggest  two  or  three  subjects.  Let  the 
class  discuss  possibilities,  as  to  setting,  plot,  and  interest. 

Exercise  XXIX. 

Let  several  tell  before  the  class  the  stories  based  on  the 
plans  of  Exercise  XXVI.  Let  all  be  prepared  to  answer  the 
following:  How  did  you  like  the  story?  Why?  Was  it 
interesting?  Why?  How  was  the  interest  kept  up?  Was 
the  setting  effective?  Was  the  theme  made  clear?  Was  the 
plot  clear,  well  put  together,  well  proportioned?  Could  the 
crucial  points  be  distinguished?  Was  the  order  confused? 
Was  the  ending  forced  or  too  abrupt  or  too  long  drawn  out? 


CHAPTER  VI 

DESCRIPTION 
PURPOSE 

You  have  found  that,  in  order  to  make  narrative  clear, 
vivid,  and  interesting,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  tell  how 
people  or  places  look.  When  we  do  this  we  tell  such  points 
about  the  appearance  as  to  cause  the  hearer  to  see  with  his 
mind's  eye  what  we  saw  with  the  physical  eye:  that  is,  we 
present  a  word  picture  so  vividly  that  the  hearer  gets  the 
same  effect  as  if  he  saw  a  portrait  or  a  photograph. 

Description  differs  from  narration  in  that  it  presents,  not 
a  series  of  happenings  continuing,  but  a  view  of  some  scene, 
or  some  person  or  thing,  at  a  given  moment,  as  a  photo- 
graph, not  a  moving  picture  film,  would  record  it. 

CLASSIFICATION 

There  are  two  kinds  of  description,  one  according  to 
method  and  the  other  according  to  purpose.  The  exact  or 
scientific  description  gives  minutely  the  details  necessary 
for  recognition  or  classification  of  a  person,  animal,  plant, 
or  object.  Measurement,  in  feet  and  inches,  color,  exact 
form  and  size  of  parts,  must  be  given,  as  well  as  any  char- 
acteristics of  appearance  that  will  help  in  identification, 

Exercise  I. 

Study  the  following  to  find  out  what  is  necessary  in  such 
descriptions: 

198 


DESCRIPTION  199 

1.  Reward — For  arrest  of  escaped  convict,  thirty-five  years  old, 
five  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  left  shoulder  lower  than  right, 
shuffling  gait,  short  black  hair,  blue  eyes,  set  far  apart,  low  brow, 
hands  short  and  thick  with  bruised  nails,  speech  halting  and  un- 
grammatical. 

2.  The  king  or  horseshoe  crab,  full  grown,  is  two  feet  long.    The 
last  segment  of  the  abdomen  forms  a  long,  sharp  spine.    The 
cephalothorax  is  broad,  shaped  like  a  horse's  foot;  the  feet  are 
arranged  about  the  mouth.    The  abdomen  bears  six  pairs  of  broad 
swimming  feet,  all  except  the  first  having  on  the  under  side  a  set  of 
about  one  hundred  respiratory  leaves  or  plates. 

Exercise  II. 

Suppose  that  your  small  brother,  your  grown  sister,  or 
your  aged  grandfather  is  lost.  Describe  him  or  her  as  you 
would  to  the  man  in  charge  at  the  police  station  from  which 
you  want  an  alarm  sent  out. 

Exercise  III. 

You  have  seen  an  unfamiliar  flower.  Describe  it  so  that 
your  teacher  of  botany  or  a  classmate  who  is  studying  bot- 
any can  tell  you  what  it  is.  A  small  animal  or  an  insect 
may  be  chosen  instead. 

Exercise  IV. 

You  have  seen,  on  a  neighboring  farm,  some  domestic 
animal  or  fowl  of  a  breed  not  known  to  you.  Describe  it  so 
that  your  father  or  some  boy  in  your  class  can  tell  you  to 
what  breed  it  belongs.  Note  carefully  what  differentiates  it 
from  those  familiar  to  you. 

Exercise  V. 

A  friend  of  yours,  unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  family,  is 
to  arrive  by  train.  Describe  the  person  so  that  your  father, 
who  is  to  meet  him,  will  recognize  him. 


200  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Though  the  exact  description  is  useful  in  tracing  people 
or  in  determining  a  class,  the  artistic  description  is  most 
used  in  ordinary  speech.  You  wish  to  tell  your  parents  or 
friends  how  some  building  looks,  where  you  spend  much 
time,  or  which  you  have  recently  seen.  You  want  to  tell 
how  a  certain  room  pleased  you,  or  why  you  were  delighted 
with  a  view,  or  why  the  place  where  you  spent  the  summer 
was  so  attractive.  If  your  best  friend  is  unknown  to  your 
family  or  to  some  other  friend,  or  you  see  a  strange- looking 
person  on  the  street,  you  want  to  be  able  to  give  a  good  idea 
of  him.  Should  you  take  a  trip,  or  go  to  a  ball  game,  the 
interest  of  your  account  will  be  heightened  if  you  can  de- 
scribe some  exciting  scene.  If  you  are  speaking  before  a 
body  of  people  a  vivid  description  will  not  only  heighten 
interest,  but  will  arouse  your  audience  to  laughter,  sym- 
pathy, or  indignation.  So  it  may  be  used  in  a  speech  that 
is,  as  a  whole,  narration,  explanation,  or  argument. 

In  most  instances  we  do  not  deliberately  choose  the  sub- 
ject, as  does  a  painter,  but  find  it  ready  to  hand.  Some- 
times, however,  we  must  select.  Then  there  are  several 
things  to  consider.  Do  we  know  it  well  enough  to  repro- 
duce the  picture  for  another?  Is  it  interesting,  or  will  it 
only  bore  the  unfortunate  hearer?  Has  it  any  unusual 
features  that  would  inevitably  attract  attention?  Can  it  be 
described  in  words?  Is  the  subject  suited  to  the  purpose  of 
presentation? 

METHOD 

The  first  thing  necessary  is  to  give  an  idea  of  your  own 
position,  as  you  saw  the  object.  You  could  not  see  the 
whole  of  it  at  once,  so  you  must  indicate  your  relation  to  it. 
First,  some  idea  of  the  general  setting  may  be  helpful. 
Then  your  point  of  view  may  be  briefly  indicated.  If  you 


DESCRIPTION  201 

stood  at  the  front,  or  diagonally  across  the  street,  or  on  a 
height  near  by,  your  position  shows  the  angle  at  which  you 
saw  the  object  or  scene.  The  hearer  is  then  able  to  visual- 
ize it  in  the  same  relation. 

It  is  then  well  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the  object,  so  that 
the  hearer  may  have  a  basis  for  the  structure  he  builds 
mentally  according  to  your  details.  This  is  called  the  fun- 
damental image.  What  do  you  notice  first  about  a  building, 
for  instance?  Probably  its  form  or  size,  whichever  differs 
most  from  others  near,  will  be  stamped  on  your  retina  first. 
The  color  is  likely  to  make  a  vivid  impression,  too.  After 
these  three  distinguishing  features  others  are  gradually 
made  evident  to  the  senses  and  by  them  to  the  mind.  The 
senses,  although  they  record  physically  many  things  at  once, 
do  not  enable  the  mind  to  grasp  all  at  the  same  instant. 

Of  course,  you  cannot  see  the  interior  from  your  point  of 
view.  But  you  may,  by  entering,  shift  your  point  of  view. 
You  will  now  become  aware  that  you  see  a  very  different 
picture,  as  to  general  outlines,  from  that  seen  by  someone 
already  within  the  room.  Moreover,  you  realize  that  the 
other  person  has  a  mental  attitude  unlike  yours.  If  you 
enter  a  schoolroom,  and  take  your  seat  with  other  pupils, 
you  find  within  your  range  of  view  a  certain  portion  of  a 
rectangular  room,  with  a  desk  in  the  foreground,  at  which 
sits  a  teacher.  Other  details  soon  become  clear.  You  think 
of  it  as  a  place  where  you  recite,  or  write  at  the  board.  The 
teacher  sees  a  portion  of  the  room  that  has  a  different  back- 
ground, with  windows  in  a  different  relative  position,  a  room 
full  of  animated  boys  and  girls,  to  whom  she  is  talking.  To 
her  the  room  seems  poorly  equipped  if  it  has  few  black- 
boards— a  different  mental  point  of  view  from  yours.  So 
we  must  distinguish  the  physical  and  mental  viewpoints. 
An  interior  is  likely  to  make  a  general  impression  on  you 


202  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

of  comfort  or  the  opposite,  of  good  taste,  of  luxury  or  plain- 
ness, of  spaciousness  or  stuffiness. 

The  contents  of  a  room  have  definite  relation  to  each 
other.  Which  article  strikes  the  attention  first?  Is  it  prom- 
inent because  of  its  nature  or  position?  Because  of  the 
multiplicity  of  objects  a  clear  order  must  be  observed  in 
mentioning  them. 

Exercise  VI. 

Study  the  following  according  to  these  suggestions: 
What  is  the  point  of  view?  What  makes  up  the  first  image? 
What  details  complete  the  picture?  Could  any  of  them  be 
left  out? 

1.  Through  all  this  petty  tumult,  which  kept  beguiling  one's 
eyes  and  upper  strata  of  thought,  it  was  delightful  to  catch  glimpses 
of  the  grand  old  architecture  that  stood  around  the  square.    .    . 
On  one  side  there  was  an  immense  edifice  devoted  to  public  pur- 
poses, with  an  antique  gallery,  and  a  range  of  arched  and  stone- 
mullioned  windows,  running  along  its  front;  and  by  way  of  entrance 
it  had  a  central  Gothic  arch,  elaborately  wreathed  around  with 
sculptured  semicircles,  within  which  the  spectator  was  aware  of 
a  stately  and  impressive  gloom.    Though  merely  the  municipal 
councilhouse  and  exchange  of  a  decayed  country  town,  this  structure 
was  worthy  to  have  held  in  one  portion  of  it  the  parliament-hall 
of  a  nation,  and,  in  the  other,  the  state  apartments  of  its  ruler. 

From  The  Marble  Faun,  by  HAWTHORNE. 

2.  We  turned  down  lanes  bestrewn  with  bits  of  chips  and  little 
hillocks  of  sand,   and  went  past   gas-works,   rope-walks,   boat- 
builders'  yards,  shipwrights'  yards,  ship-breakers'  yards,  caulkers' 
yards,  riggers'  lofts,  smiths'  forges,  and  a  great  litter  of  such  places, 
until  we  came  out  upon  the  dull  waste  I  had  already  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance; when  Ham  said,  "Yon's  our  house,  Mas'r  Davy!" 

I  looked  in  all  directions,  as  far  as  I  could  stare  over  the  wilder- 
ness, and  away  at  the  sea,  and  away  at  the  river,  but  no  house  could 


DESCRIPTION  203 

7  make  out.  There  was  a  black  barge,  or  some  other  kind  of  super- 
annuated boat,  not  far  off,  high  and  dry  on  the  ground,  with  an 
iron  funnel  sticking  out  of  it  for  a  chimney  and  smoking  very  cosily; 
but  nothing  else  in  the  way  of  a  habitation  that  was  visible  to  me. 

"That's  not  it?"  said  I,  "that  ship-looking  thing?" 

"That's  it,  Mas'r  Davy,"  returned  Ham. 

If  it  had  been  Aladdin's  palace,  roc's  egg  and  all,  I  suppose  I 
could  not  have  been  more  charmed  with  the  romantic  idea  of  living 
in  it.  There  was  a  delightful  door  cut  in  the  side,  and  it  was  roofed 
in,  and  there  were  little  windows  in  it;  but  the  wonderful  charm  of 
it  was,  that  it  was  a  real  boat  which  had  no  doubt  been  upon  the 
water  hundreds  of  times.  .  .  . 

It  was  beautifully  clean  inside,  and  as  tidy  as  possible.  There 
was  a  table,  and  a  Dutch  clock,  and  a  chest  of  drawers,  and  on  the 
chest  of  drawers  there  was  a  tea-tray  with  a  painting  on  it  of  a  lady 
with  a  parasol,  taking  a  walk  with  a  military-looking  child  who  was 
trundling  a  hoop.  The  tray  was  kept  from  tumbling  down,  by  a 
Bible;  and  the  tray,  if  it  had  tumbled  down,  would  have  smashed  a 
quantity  of  cups  and  saucers  and  a  teapot  that  were  grouped  around 
the  book.  On  the  walls  there  were  some  common  colored  pictures, 
framed  and  glazed. — There  were  some  hooks  in  the  beams  of  the 
ceiling,  the  use  of  which  I  did  not  divine  then;  and  some  lockers  and 
boxes  and  conveniences  of  that  sort,  which  served  for  seats  and 
eked  out  the  chairs.  From  David  Copperfield,  by  DICKENS. 

3.  I  visited  one  of  these  khans  now  standing,  and  looking  just 
as  hi  Christ's  tune.  We  rode  in  under  the  arched  entrance  and  dis- 
mounted. We  found  the  building  of  stone  and  around  an  open 
square  without  roof.  The  building  is  more  than  two  thousand 
years  old.  It  is  two  stories  high.  In  the  center  are  camels,  horses, 
and  mules.  Caravans  halt  here  for  the  night  or  during  a  long  storm. 
The  open  square  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  a  whole  herd 
of  cattle,  a  flock  of  sheep,  or  caravan  of  camels.  The  neighboring 
Bedouins  here  find  market  for  their  hay,  straw,  and  meats.  Off 
from  this  center  there  are  twelve  rooms  for  human  habitation. 
The  only  light  is  from  the  door.  I  went  into  one  of  these  rooms 
and  found  a  woman  cooking  the  evening  meal.  There  were  six 


204  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

cows  in  the  same  room.  On  a  little  elevation  there  was  some  straw 
where  the  people  sat  and  slept  when  they  wanted  to  rest.  It  was 
in  a  room  similar  to  this  that  our  Lord  was  born. 

From  Sermons  on  the  Holy  Land,  by  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE. 

4.  He  moved  through  the  dark  room  with  perfect  ease,  struck  a 
match,  lighted  a  taper  and  went  swiftly  and  softly  about.  He 
touched  the  taper  to  one  candle  after  another, — they  seemed  to  be 
everywhere, — and  won  from  the  dark  a  faint  twilight,  that  yielded 
slowly  to  a  growing  mellow  splendor  of  light. 

The  lines  of  the  walls  receded  as  the  light  increased,  and  the 
raftered  ceiling  drew  away,  luring  the  eyes  upward.  I  rose  with  a 
smothered  exclamation  on  my  lips  and  stared  about,  snatching  off 
my  hat  in  reverence  as  the  spirit  of  the  place  wove  its  spell  about 
me.  Everywhere  there  were  books;  they  covered  the  walls  to  the 
ceiling,  with  only  long  French  windows  and  an  enormous  fireplace 
breaking  the  line.  Above  the  fireplace  a  massive  dark  oak  chimney- 
breast  further  emphasized  the  grand  scale  of  the  room.  From  every 
conceivable  place — from  shelves  built  for  the  purpose,  from  brackets 
that  thrust  out  long  arms  among  the  books,  from  a  great  crystal 
chandelier  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  and  from  the  breast  of  the 
chimney — innumerable  candles  blazed  with  dazzling  brilliancy.  I 
exclaimed  in  wonder  and  pleasure  as  Bates  paused,  his  sorcerer's 
wand  in  hand. 

From  The  House  of  a  Thousand  Candles,  by  MEREDITH  NICHOI^ 
SON.  Copyright,  1905.  Used  by  special  permission  of  the  pub- 
lishers, The  Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 

Exercise  VII. 

Select  one  of  the  following,  or  one  suggested  by  the  in- 
structor, or  a  notable  building  with  which  you  are  familiar. 
Look  at  it  carefully,  from  a  fixed  position,  or  study  a  pic- 
ture of  it.  What  do  you  notice  first?  When  you  have 
formulated  the  fundamental  image  for  yourself,  decide 
whether  there  is  anything  unusual  about  it.  Look  at  it  long 
enough  so  that  you  feel  you  have  a  vivid  mental  picture. 
Try  closing  your  eyes  and  reviewing  the  points  necessary 
to  make  the  picture  clear,  or  turn  your  back  and  write  down 


DESCRIPTION  205 

the  points  in  order.  Then  look  again  to  verify  your  mem- 
ory. If  you  do  not  have  to  change  the  points  you  can  prob- 
ably repeat  them  to  another  so  that  he  will  be  able  to  repro- 
duce your  mental  picture.  Describe  the  building  before  the 
class. 

The  school  building. 

A  church. 

The  town  hall,  or  courthouse. 

The  public  library. 

A  notable  mansion. 

A  peculiar  house,  perhaps  very  old. 

A  business  building.  The  Flatiron,  Woolworth,  and  Metropoli- 
tan buildings  in  New  York  are  excellent  examples. 

A  bank. 

A  hospital. 

The  railway  station. 

Some  public  monument,  such  as  Grant's  Tomb,  the  Garfield 
Memorial,  The  Bunker  Hill  Monument. 

Some  important  building  you  have  seen  in  another  city. 

Exercise  VIII. 

Let  other  members  of  the  class  try  to  reproduce  the  pic- 
ture by  drawing  on  the  board  or  writing  a  description  based 
on  the  speaker's. 

Exercise  IX. 

Describe  an  open  interior  or  a  room  in  the  building  you 
took  as  your  subject  in  Exercise  VII  on  page  204. 

Exercise  X. 
Describe  clearly  one  of  the  following: 

A  piece  of  statuary  in  your  school  or  in  some  public  building. 
A  piece  of  machinery.    Be  careful  to  give  a  picture,  not  an  account 
of  how  it  is  constructed. 
A  clock. 


206  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

An  antique  table,  cabinet,  or  other  piece  of  furniture. 
A  large  vase. 

A  dress  displayed  in  one  of  the  fashionable  shops,  or  one  of  old 
style,  an  heirloom  or  one  exhibited  hi  a  museum. 
A  suit  of  armor  hi  the  museum. 

Sometimes  we  see  so  many  things  from  one  position  that 
it  is  impossible  to  convey  every  detail  to  someone  else  in 
words.  Just  as  we  select  details  in  narrative,  we  must  in 
description.  We  pick  out  those  that  we  have  noticed 
because  we  could  not  help  it.  We  mention  them  in  the 
order  in  which  they  naturally  appeared  to  us.  In  looking  at 
a  large  scene,  we  find  that,  though  there  is  a  first  image 
that  includes  altitudes,  color,  and  the  general  nature  of  the 
view,  there  is  some  center  of  attention,  to  which  other  fea- 
tures are  subordinate.  We  often  see  the  background  before 
we  see  the  part  nearest. 

Exercise  XL 

In  the  following,  what  is  the  fundamental  image,  the  cen- 
ter of  interest,  the  background?  What  details  are  included? 
What  left  to  imagination?  What  impression  is  left? 

The  procession  has  now  come  to  the  brow  of  Olivet.  Magnifi- 
cent prospect!  reaching  out  hi  every  direction — vineyards,  olive 
groves,  jutting  rocks,  silvery  Siloam,  and  above  all,  rising  on  its 
chain  of  hills,  this  most  highly  honored  city  of  all  the  earth.  Jesus 
Christ,  there  hi  the  midst  of  the  procession,  looks  off  and  sees  here 
fortressed  gates,  and  yonder  the  circling  wall,  and  here  the  towers 
blazing  hi  the  sun,  Phaesaelus  and  Mariamne.  Yonder  is  Hippion, 
the  king's  castle.  Looking  along  hi  the  range  of  the  large  branch  of 
that  olive  tree,  you  see  the  mansion  of  the  merchant  prince. 
Through  this  cleft  in  the  limestone  rock  you  see  the  palace  of  the 
richest  trafficker  hi  all  the  earth.  He  has  made  his  money  by  selling 
Tyrian  purple.  Behold  now  the  Temple!  Clouds  of  smoke  lifting 
from  the  shimmering  roof,  while  the  building  rises  up — beautiful, 


DESCRIPTION  207 

grand,  majestic,  the  architectural  skill  and  glory  of  the  earth, 
lifting  themselves  there  in  one  triumphant  doxology  of  frozen  prayer 
of  all  the  nations. 

From  Sermons  on  the  Holy  Land,  by  T.  DEWiir  TALMAGE. 

Exercise  XII. 

Study  the  following  for  the  difference  between  description 
and  exposition  (see  also  page  224) : 

1.  From  the  top  of  Notre  Dame,  Montreal,  is  certainly  to  be  had  a 
prospect  upon  which,  but  for  his  fluttered  nerves  and  trembling 
muscles  and  troubled  perspiration,  the  traveler  might  well  look  with 
delight,  and,  as  it  is,  must  behold  with  wonder.    So  far  as  the  eye 
reaches  it  dwells  only  upon  what  is  magnificent.    All  the  features 
of  that  landscape  are  grand.    Below  you  spreads  the  city,  which  has 
less  that  is  merely  mean  in  it  than  any  other  city  of  our  continent, 
and  which  is  everywhere  ennobled  by  stately  civic  edifices,  adorned 
by  tasteful  churches,  and  skirted  by  full-foliaged  avenues  of  man- 
sions and  villas.     Beyond  it  rises  a  beautiful  mountain,  green  with 
woods  and  gardens  to  its  crest,  and  flanked  on  the  east  by  an  endless 
fertile  plain,  and  on  the  weet  by  another  expanse,  through  which 
the  Ontario  rushes,  turbid  and  dark,  to  its  confluence  with  the  St. 
Lawrence.    Then  these  two  mighty  streams,  commingled,  flow  past 
the  city,  lighting  up  the  vast  champaign  country  to  the  south,  where 
upon  the  utmost  southern  verge,  as  on  the  northern,  rise  the  cloudy 
summits  of  far-off  mountains. 

From  Our  Silver  Wedding  Journey,  by  WILLIAM  DEAN  HOWELLS. 

2.  The  Santa  Fe"  Railroad  makes  connections  at  Milano,  Texas, 
with  the  International,  and  that  road  passing  through  Austin  and 
San  Antonio  connects  with  the  Mexican  National  at  Laredo.    The 
Mexican  National  is  the  main  line  to  Monterey,  the  most  American 
of  the  Mexican  cities,  situated  only  168  miles  from  the  Rio  Grande. 
Saltillo,  the  capital  of  Coahuila,  one  of  the  richest  mining  states, 
San  Luis  Potosi,  one  of  the  richest  cities  of  the  republic,  Toluca, 
the  progressive  capital  of  the  state  of  Mexico,  these  are  the  main 
cities  on  this  line  between  Monterey  and  the  city  of  Mexico.    The 


208  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

trip  from  the  border  to  the  capital  traverses  every  variety  of  country 
from  plain  to  valley  and  mountain.  Among  the  principal  large 
cities  near  the  City  of  Mexico  may  be  named  Guadalajara,  in  the 
west  central  portion,  one  of  the  prettiest  cities  to  be  found  anywhere. 
Aguas  Calientes,  named  for  the  hot  springs  there;  Guanajuato, 
which  is  noted  for  having  one  of  the  largest  silver  mines,  one  of  the 
handsomest  theaters  and  the  largest  collection  of  mummies  to  be 
found  on  the  continent,  and  Cuernavaca,  just  south  of  the  City 
of  Mexico,  always  of  interest  to  tourists  because  of  the  private 
residence  of  Cortez,  and  now  becoming  famous  as  a  health  resort. 
Popocatapetl,  one  of  the  tallest  peaks  on  this  hemisphere,  is  seen 
to  advantage  from  the  Cuernavaca  road. 

From  Second  Visit  to  Mexico,  by  W.  J.  BRYAN. 

Exercise  XIII. 

Describe  one  of  the  following,  with  care  as  to  point  of 
view,  first  image,  selection  and  arrangement  of  details,  and 
general  impression.  Do  the  first  impression  or  any  details 
remind  you  of  anything?  How  can  you  most  clearly  convey 
to  the  audience  your  own  mental  picture? 

A  village  hi  which  you  have  lived  or  which  you  have  visited. 
A  view  from  the  piazza  of  a  summer  hotel,  or  from  a  window. 
View  from  the  top  of  a  high  building  or  tower,  or  a  high  bridge. 
View  from  a  steamer  coming  into  port. 
View  from  a  carriage  on  a  country  road. 
View  from  a  mountain-top. 

Exercise  XIV. 

Describe  some  spot,  such  as  a  forest  scene,  a  small  lake 
or  bay,  with  surroundings,  or  brook  or  river  scene,  which 
might  attract  a  tired  city  dweller  for  a  day.  Some  parts  of 
large  city  parks  afford  such  scenes. 

A  few  pages  back  you  saw  an  exact  description  by  which 
a  person  might  be  recognized.  But  ordinarily  you  wish  to 
give  an  idea  of  someone  in  such  a  way  that  the  hearer's 


DESCRIPTION  209 

imagination  is  aroused  and  assisted.  Nobody  cares  whether 
your  friend  is  exactly  five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  but  if 
he  is  very  small  or  unusually  large,  or  has  any  general 
characteristics  of  appearance  that  would  attract  immedi- 
ate attention,  those  points  should  be  given.  Everyone  looks 
so  different  from  most  other  people  that  he  is  at  once  recog- 
nized by  his  acquaintances,  even  when  suddenly  met  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe,  after  several  years.  A  traveler 
on  an  ocean  steamer  heard  a  voice  speak  her  name,  and 
turned  to  find  a  young  woman  whom  she  had  not  seen  for 
four  years,  and  of  whom  she  probably  had  not  thought 
half  a  dozen  times  in  that  period.  Yet  she  called  her 
by  name,  and  placed  their  former  association  at  once.  Like 
recognitions  have  occurred  after  many  years,  when  neither 
had  reason  to  suppose  the  other  within  many  miles.  Many 
persons  can  recognize  even  in  other  places  those  whom  they 
have  met  but  once.  At  a  fancy  dress  ball  many  of  the 
guests  can  be  recognized  in  spite  of  the  change  in  clothes. 
Noted  criminals  have  been  arrested  when  in  complete  dis- 
guise, with  hair  dyed,  scars  simulated,  gait  studied,  or  de- 
formity pretended.  What  peculiarities,  modeling  of  fea- 
tures, or  traits  of  manner,  expression,  or  speech  make  up 
this  marvelous  individuality? 

When  you  are  introduced  to  someone,  what  do  you  no- 
tice first?  What  do  you  recall  an  hour  afterward?  When 
your  attention  is  attracted  by  a  person  entering  the  car, 
what  is  the  cause?  If  you  involuntarily  turn  to  look  after 
a  passer-by,  why  do  you?  Afterward,  what  details  can  you 
easily  remember?  What  left  with  you  the  impression  of 
culture  or  boorishness,  of  gaiety  or  suffering,  of  buoyancy 
or  weariness,  of  good  nature  or  brutality,  of  good  char- 
acter or  bad?  Are  you  frightened,  amused,  or  curious? 

It  is  probably  true,  in  the  case  of  human  beings,  that 


210  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

first  impressions  are  the  most  lasting.  They  may  be  mis- 
taken ones,  but  sometimes  a  dislike  acquired  during  the 
first  five  minutes  of  association  remains  for  many  years. 
How  do  we  gain  such  impressions?  Why  did  you  resolve 
at  once  that  you  did  not  want  to  sit  with  a  certain 
student,  though  you  immediately  tried  to  win  the  friend- 
ship of  another?  One  may  be  just  as  healthy,  well  fea- 
tured, well  dressed,  and  courteous  as  another;  and  yet  there 
may  still  be  a  repulsion  from  one.  As  we  grow  older,  our 
mental  attitudes,  our  habits,  and  our  characters  become 
more  firmly  and  undisguisably  stamped  on  our  appearance. 
But  how?  What  reveals  to  us  these  things  in  others? 

When  we  have  answered  these  questions,  perhaps  we 
shall  see  what  is  necessary  for  us  to  portray  in  order  to  give 
a  third  person  a  picture.  You  may  have  read  Hawthorne's 
story  of  the  Prophetic  Pictures.  The  artist  saw  in  the 
faces  something  that  others  could  not  see.  Yet  it  was 
there,  tending  to  the  inevitable.  To  us,  few  things  are 
of  more  value  than  to  be  able  to  read  the  characters  of 
those  we  meet.  With  that  power  many  lives  would  have 
been  saved  misery  and  ruin.  So  may  it  not  be  worth  while 
to  study  the  revelation  of  personality  and  character? 

But,  in  describing  people  for  others,  we  should  be  careful 
not  to  confuse  statements  of  our  opinion  of  them  with  the 
details  of  the  picture.  We  should  let  the  figure  stand  re- 
vealed through  itself,  not  through  our  comment  based  on 
rumor  or  previous  knowledge. 

Exercise  XV. 

Study  the  following  as  to  fundamental  image,  differen- 
tiating points,  order  of  details,  details  suggesting  character, 
and  main  impression. 

1.  And  once  looking  out,  I  saw  all  up  and  down  the  street,  in  every 
window  I  could  see,  just  the  same  mass  of  eager  faces  behind  the 


DESCRIPTION  211 

windows.  Those  faces  were  all  concentrated  on  a  certain  figure, 
a  farmerlike,  sunburned  man  who  stood,  roughly  clothed,  with  his 
hands  behind  him,  speaking  to  no  one,  looking  nowhere  hi  particu- 
lar; waiting,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  for  nothing,  with  broad  shoulders 
and  heavy  muscles,  and  the  head  of  a  hero  above.  Such  a  brow, 
such  massive  formation,  such  magnificent  black  eyes,  such  straight 
black  eyebrows  I  had  never  seen  before. 

That  man,  it  appeared,  was  Daniel  Webster!  I  saw  people  go 
along  the  street  sidling  past  him,  looking  up  at  him  as  if  he  were 
the  Statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World  hi  New  York  harbor. 

From  a  lecture  on  Oratory  by  T.  W.  HIGGINSON.  "  Public  Speak- 
ing," by  Irvah  L.  Winter. 

2.  There  were  very  few  negroes  among  the  reconcentrados.     In- 
deed, but  one  black  in  the  throes  of  death  from  starvation  was  seen. 
This  was  at  Matanzas.    The  party  was  returning  to  the  city  from 
a  visit  to  a  hospital  in  its  outskirts.    While  crossing  a  stone  bridge 
over  the  river,  we  saw  something  like  an  overturned  iron  statue 
below,  on  the  sward  of  the  bank.     It  was  the  skin  and  bone  of  a 
gigantic  negro,  entirely  nude.    He  was  in  the  last  agonies  of  starva- 
tion.    He  lay  partly  upon  his  side  hi  the  hot  sun,  with  knees  crooked 
and  head  upon  his  left  arm.    When  we  leaned  over  the  parapet  and 
addressed  him,  he  made  no  reply  and  showed  no  sign  of  life.    A 
moment  afterwards  a  buzzard  swooped  over  him,  fanning  his 
shrunken  shank  with  its  wings.    And  still  no  sign  of  life  was  shown. 
Again  we  shouted  from  the  parapet,  but  the  figure  remained  motion- 
less.   Suddenly  the  head  was  raised  and  the  long,  bony  right  arm 
moved  in  a  feeble  effort  to  scratch  the  naked  thigh. 

From  speech  on  The  Situation  in  Cuba  by  AMOS  J.  CUMMINGS. 
"Congressional  Record,"  July  13,  1898. 

3.  Tall  and  apparently  endowed  with  much  vigor  of  body,  his 
presence  was  noble  and  his  appearance  prepossessing.    In  later 
years,  the  first  peculiarity  which  caught  the  eye,  as  Burke  walked 
forward,  as  his  custom  was,  to  speak  in  the  middle  of  the  House, 
were  his  spectacles,  which,  from  shortness  of  sight,  seemed  never 
absent  from  his  face.    His  dress,  though  not  slovenly,  was  by  no 


212  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

means  such  as  would  have  suited  a  leader  of  fashion.  He  had  the 
air  of  a  man  who  was  full  of  thought  and  care,  and  to  whom  his 
outward  appearance  was  not  of  the  slightest  consideration.  But,  as 
a  set-off  to  this  disadvantage,  there  was  in  his  whole  deportment  a 
sense  of  personal  dignity  and  habitual  self-respect.  They  who  knew 
how  amiable  Burke  was  in  his  private  life,  and  how  warm  and  tender 
was  the  heart  within,  might  expect  to  see  these  softer  qualities 
depicted  on  his  countenance.  But  they  would  have  been  disap- 
pointed. It  was  not  usual  at  any  time  to  see  his  face  mantling  with 
smiles;  he  decidedly  looked  like  a  great  man,  but  not  like  a  meek 
or  gentle  one.  All  his  troubles  were  impressed  on  his  working  fea- 
tures, and  gave  them  a  somewhat  severe  expression,  which  deepened 
as  he  advanced  in  years,  until  they  became  to  some  observers  un- 
pleasantly hard.  The  marks  about  the  jaw,  the  firmness  of  the 
lines  about  the  mouth,  the  stern  glance  of  the  eye,  and  the  furrows 
on  the  expansive  forehead,  were  all  the  sad  ravages  left  by  the  diffi- 
culties and  sorrows  of  genius,  and  by  the  iron  which  had  entered 
the  soul.  MACKNIGHT. 

4.  A  flying  figure  covered  the  little  distance  hi  a  dozen  graceful 
leaps,  snatched  the  child  from  the  young  man's  hands,  and  stood,  one 
foot  advanced,  breast  heaving,  a  palpitating,  wild  thing,  like  a  sym- 
bol of  defiance. 

The  girl  belonged  distinctly  to  the  more  attractive  type;  it  re- 
quired but  little  imagination  to  endow  her  with  real  beauty.  Her 
figure  was  straight  and  slim  and  well  proportioned,  her  eyes  large, 
her  face  oval,  and  quite  devoid  of  that  broad,  high-cheeked  stupid- 
ity so  common  in  the  northern  races.  At  the  moment  she  flashed 
like  a  brand  with  quick-breathed  anger  and  fear. 

Dick  looked  at  her  first  with  amazement,  then  with  mingled 
admiration  and  mischief. 

From  The  Silent  Places  by  STEWART  EDWARD  WHITE. 

Exercise  XVI. 

You  have  a  friend  or  acquaintance  not  known  to  other 
members  of  your  family,  or  to  the  class.  Tell  how  he  or 
she  looks. 


DESCRIPTION  213 

Exercise  XVII. 

You  saw  on  the  car,  or  met  on  the  street,  a  person  who 
attracted  your  attention,  and  made  a  definite  impression  on 
you.  Describe  this  person  to  the  class. 

Exercise  XVIII. 

You  cannot  remember  the  name  of  some  acquaintance 
who  is  known  to  the  person  to  whom  you  are  talking.  De- 
scribe him  or  her  in  such  a  way  that  the  hearer  can  dis- 
tinguish the  subject  from  others  belonging  to  the  same 
circle. 

Exercise  XIX. 

Describe  without  name  some  person  known  to  some  other 
members  of  the  class,  and  let  someone  identify  the  sub- 
ject. 

Sometimes  a  person  belonging  to  a  certain  class  is  known 
by  the  marks  of  the  type  as  well  as  individual  characteris- 
tics. Some  nationalities  can  be  distinguished  in  an  instant, 
because  the  members  all  have  certain  likenesses.  You  see 
a  postman,  a  fireman,  a  policeman,  and  think  of  him  as 
one  of  a  body,  because  of  the  common  attire  and  manner. 
Those  who  follow  the  same  occupation  or  profession,  though 
extremely  individual,  may  in  some  ways  be  typical.  Most 
people  are  able  to  recognize  a  clergyman,  a  physician,  or 
a  teacher. 

Exercise  XX. 

See  whether  you  can  pick  out,  on  the  cars,  people  who 
apparently  belong  to  certain  classes:  the  prosperous  busi- 
ness man,  the  schoolgirl  or  boy,  the  teacher,  the  laboring 
man. 

Exercise  XXI. 

Describe  such  a  person  to  the  class,  letting  the  members 
name  the  type,  or  describe  a  soldier,  sailor,  policeman,  post- 


214  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

man,  fireman,  nun,  deaconess,  nurse,  priest,  monk,  subway 
guard,  conductor,  beggar,  or  any  other  type,  so  that  the 
hearers  can  classify  the  person  described. 

Be  careful  not  to  make  this  a  general,  expository  account, 
but  reproduce  a  picture  of  the  person  in  a  characteristic 
position. 

Animals,  too,  though  they  are  more  clearly  classified 
into  species  than  are  human  beings,  have,  in  many  in- 
stances, individuality.  Several  years  ago  a  horse  was  stolen 
from  a  hotel  shed  in  Schenectady,  New  York.  The  police 
failed  to  trace  it.  Some  months  afterward  the  owner  was 
sitting  by  a  window  and  saw  his  horse  driven  past.  He 
followed,  claimed  the  animal,  and  learned  finally  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  theft  and  sale.  If  your  dog  were  stolen 
you  could  identify  it  among  many. 

Exercise  XXII. 

Make  a  list  of  the  ways  in  which  a  horse,  dog,  cat,  cow, 
or  other  familiar  animal  may  differ  from  another  of  the 
same  species,  and  from  the  same  breed. 

Exercise  XXIII. 

Describe  one  of  your  pets,  or  an  animal  on  the  farm,  in 
such  a  way  that  its  individuality  is  shown.  If  it  has  dis- 
tinctive habits  or  manners,  show  it  in  action. 

Exercise  XXIV. 

Describe  some  animal  you  saw  at  a  fair,  a  circus,  or  in 
the  zoological  gardens. 

You  will  easily  see  that  the  choice  of  effective  words 
has  much  to  do  with  the  vividness  and  effect  of  a  descrip- 
tion. You  have  probably  all  heard  people  talk  "like  a 
book."  You  are  annoyed  with  that  kind  of  expression,  be- 
cause it  seems  formal,  stilted,  and  unnatural.  The  effec- 


DESCRIPTION  215 

tiveness  of  direct  speech  often  depends  on  its  entire 
naturalness.  Simple,  short  words  are  best.  Sometimes 
comparisons  help  to  make  an  impression  vivid,  if  they  are 
not  long  drawn  out.  The  common  expressions,  "black  as  a 
crow,"  "a  face  like  a  full  moon,"  "bright  as  a  dollar,"  have 
become  hackneyed,  but  they  illustrate  the  method.  If  you 
can  introduce  a  concise  comparison  that  is  unusual,  but 
marked,  you  will  make  an  impression.  We  have  heard 
quite  enough  about  azure  or  violet  eyes,  but  that  is  no  rea- 
son why  we  should  cease  to  appeal  to  the  sense  of  color. 
Lowell,  in  his  description  of  June,  appeals  to  feeling  and 
hearing.  Many  words  suggest  touch  or  sound,  such  as 
rough,  sharp,  corrugated,  sizzling,  gushing,  titter,  strident. 
Even  such  words  as  lofty,  dwarfed,  lean  call  to  mind  whole 
figures.  It  must  be  remembered  that  most  words  mean  lit- 
tle or  much  according  as  they  have  meager  or  vivid  associa- 
tions. Many  words  suggest  effect,  such  as  bedraggled, 
decisive,  breathless,  calm,  pitiful,  desolate,  gorgeous,  spec- 
tacular. Do  not  be  afraid  to  use  striking  words.  Although 
florid,  ornate  language  should  not  be  affected,  there  is  no 
need  of  leaving  your  speech  colorless  and  bare.  Neverthe- 
less discretion  is  desirable.  Some  words  good  in  their  right 
places  become  ludicrous  in  the  wrong  ones.  So  context  as 
well  as  fitness  must  be  considered.  Words  which  might 
well  be  used  of  a  battle  scene  may  not  do  for  a  quarrel 
between  kittens. 

Often  a  description  has  one  specific  purpose.  The  speaker 
wishes  to  give  the  impression  of  horror,  of  admiration,  of 
fear  or  of  delight,  of  amusement  or  awe.  The  chief  purpose 
of  picturing  one  scene  may  be  to  show  the  desolation;  of 
another,  such  as  a  scene  on  Broadway,  to  portray  the  life 
and  action.  A  description  of  a  fire  company  on  the  way  to 
a  fire  may  well  be  centered  on  the  impression  of  haste,  to 


216  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

such  an  extent  that  there  is  as  much  suspense  as  in  a  good 
narrative. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  desired  impression,  as  a  whole, 
only  such  details  may  be  chosen  ao  will,  in  some  way,  aid 
or  be  subordinate  to  the  main  idea.  That  must  be  kept 
constantly  in  mind.  The  fewer  the  details,  then,  the  more 
likely  the  impression  is  to  be  clear  cut.  The  words,  too, 
must  be  selected  with  a  view  to  deepening  this  impression. 
Motion  words  help  to  give  life.  Words  denoting  or  sug- 
gesting color  or  sound  must  be  used  to  give  the  effect  of 
color  or  sound.  Repetition  of  the  effect  in  other  words 
emphasizes  it. 

Exercise  XXV. 

In  one  or  two  sentences  describe  a  sound,  a  taste,  a  smell ; 
a  feeling,  mental  or  physical,  a  color.  Use  words  that  give 
effect.  Try  various  comparisons  to  see  if  you  can  find  any 
that  fit.  Seek  to  adapt  the  word  to  the  sense,  so  that  the 
sound  of  it  suggests  the  thing. 

1.  One  afternoon  some  summers  ago  I  was  in  Wichita,  in  the 
state  in  which  I  then  lived,  and  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening 
I  took  the  south-bound  Sante  Fe"  train  for  Wellington,  a  town  some 
thirty  miles  to  the  south.  It  was  a  southern  Kansas  afternoon  in 
late  August.  The  early  and  the  later  rains  had  given  the  farmers 
matured  crops  in  abundance  before  the  season  of  drought  had  come, 
but  now  for  days  and  days  the  hot  winds  like  the  breath  from  a  super- 
heated furnace  had  swept  across  the  prairies,  filling  the  baked  and 
hardened  ground  with  wide  fissures  that  gaped  with  repulsive 
thirstiness.  The  grass,  dried  and  browned  by  heat  of  sun,  seemed 
tinder-box-like  to  invite  devouring  flame.  The  corn  blades  wrinkled 
and  curled  under  the  blast  of  heat  until  the  gaunt  stalks  seemed 
bereft  of  everything  save  drooping  ears. 

The  sun  had  shone  with  increased  brightness  and  burned  with 
increased  fervor  in  a  sky  that  seemed  always  to  have  been  cloudless. 


DESCRIPTION  217 

The  very  air  danced  with  heat  waves  that  brought  tears  to  strained 
eyes;  the  cattle  on  parched  pastures  sought  in  vain  for  the  brooks, 
creeks,  springs  and  ponds  long  since  licked  up  by  the  thirsty  sun. 
The  barbed  wire  fences  stretched  miles  and  miles  away  like  heated 
lines  of  silver,  glistening  in  the  sunlight.  The  buildings  in  towns 
and  cities  cast  perspiring  frowns;  the  very  pavements  reflected  back 
to  the  heavens  the  burning  heat-rays  they  refused  to  absorb  and 
men  almost  lifeless  began  to  inquire,  "Will  it  ever  rain  again?" 
From  a  sermon  by  DR.  GUY  POTTER  BENTON. 

2.  Then  as  the  sun  rose  higher  in  the  sky  the  campus  began  to 
fill  to  overflowing  with  a  varied  company  of  men  and  women.     The 
special  train  from  New  York  at  10  o'clock  brought  hundreds  to  the 
campus,  and  shortly  after  that  the  dormitories  and  clubhouses 
gave  forth  their  hosts  of  graduates  and  undergraduates. 

There  was  color  everywhere,  the  severe  black  of  many  robes  of 
much  learning  relieved  and  brightened  with  every  variety  of 
academic  insignia.  The  campus  was  rich  with  the  greens  and  pur- 
ples and  yellows  of  scholastic  distinction  with  here  and  there  the 
flaming  gowns  of  Oxford  men.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd  was 
the  light  and  color  of  Summer  gowns  and  bright  parasols  tilted  in 
the  warm  May  sunlight,  for  three  of  the  clubs  had  given  dances 
the  night  before  and  the  ceremonies  had  their  quota  of  Princeton 
girls.  And  hi  and  out  of  the  crowd  darted  undergraduates  innumer- 
able, a  profusion  of  white  flannels. 

It  was  a  perfect  day.  They  called  it  a  Princeton  day.  The  cam- 
pus in  its  new  green  was  a  glory  of  sunshine. 

Scene  on  Princeton  campus,  at  inauguration  of  President  Hibben. 
"New  York  Times." 

3.  But  in  another  five  minutes  the  light  shone  pink  on  them,  and 
we  saw  they  were  icebergs,  towering  many  feet  in  the  air,  huge 
glistening  masses,  deadly  white,  still  and  peaked  in  a  way  that  had 
suggested  a  schooner. 

From  interview  with  Lawrence  Beeseley,  after  Titanic  disaster. 
"New  York  Times." 


218  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

4.  She  was  as  dead  an  old  woman  as  ever  I  saw:  no  more  than 
bone  and  parchment,  curiously  put  together.    Her  eyes,  with  which 
she  interrogated  mine,  were  vacant  of  sense.  STEVENSON. 

5.  The  inn  bore  the  name  of  some  woodland  annual,  stag,  or 
hart,  or  hind,  I  forget  which.     But  I  shall  never  forget  how  spacious 
and  how  eminently  habitable  it  looked  as  we  drew  near.    The  car- 
riage entry  was  lighted  up,  not  by  intention,  but  from  the  mere 
superfluity  of  fire  and  candle  in  the  house.    A  rattle  of  many  dishes 
came  to  our  ears;  we  sighted  a  great  field  of  table-cloth,  the  kitchen 
glowed  like  a  forge  and  smelt  like  a  garden  of  things  to  eat. 

STEVENSON. 

6.  For  league  upon  league  the  desert  uniformity  of  the  prospect 
was  almost  unbroken,  the  hills  were  dotted  with  little  tufts  of  shriv- 
eled grass,  but  betwixt  these  the  white  sand  was  glaring  in  the 
sun;  and  the  channel  of  the  river,  almost  on  a  level  with  the  plain, 
was  but  one  great  sand-bed,  about  half  a  mile  wide. 

FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

7.  The  light  of  day  is  dying  over  the  forests  of  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi.   The  silence  of  high  space  falls  upon  the  vast  stream.    On 
a  thunder-blasted  tree-top  near  the  western  bank  sits  a  lone,  stern 
figure  waiting  for  its  lordliest  prey — the  eagle  waiting  for  the  swan. 

JAMES  LANE  ALLEN. 

8.  But  here  was  a  turreted  border  castle,  bristling  at  the  head  of 
the  gorge,  like  the  fangs  in  a  boar's  throat.        EDITH  WHARTON. 

9.  Over  the  river,  so  still  with  its  oily  eddies  and  delicate  wreaths 
of  foam,  just  below  the  falls  they  have  in  late  years  woven  a  web 
of  wire  high  in  air,  and  hung  a  bridge  from  precipice  to  precipice. 
Of  all  the  bridges  made  with  hands  it  seems  the  lightest,  most 
ethereal.  HOWELLS. 

10.  He  found  the  Abbot  a  man  with  a  bland  intriguing  eye,  and 
centuries  of  pious  leisure  in  his  voice. 

EDITH  WHABTON. 


DESCRIPTION  219 

11.  The  camel  is  a  proud,  mysterious,  solemn,  ancient,  ungainly, 
majestic  and  ridiculous  shape,  stalking  out  of  the  past. 

T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE. 

12.  In  our  tent  in  Palestine  to-night  I  hear  something  I  have  never 
heard  before  and  hope  never  to  hear  again.     It  is  the  voice  of  a 
hyena  amid  the  rocks  nearby.    When  you  may  have  seen  this 
monster  putting  his  mouth  between  the  iron  bars  of  a  menagerie, 
he  is  a  captive  and  he  gives  a  humiliated  and  suppressed  cry.    But 
yonder,  in  the  midnight  on  a  throne  of  rocks,  he  utters  himself  in 
a  loud,  resounding,  terrific,  almost  supernatural  sound,  splitting 
up  the  dark  into  a  deeper  midnight.    It  begins  hi  a  howl  and  ends 
with  a  sound  something  like  a  horse's  whinnying.    In  the  hyena's 
voice  are  defiance  and  strength  and  bloodthirstiness  and  crunching 
of  broken  bones  and  death.  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE. 

13.  The  massive  trunks  seemed  like  pillars  set  to  uphold  the  level 
roof  of  green.    Great  yellow  birches,  shaggy  with  age,  stretched 
their  knotted  arms  high  above  us;  sugar  maples  stood  up  straight 
and  proud  under  their  leafy  crowns;  and  smooth  beeches — the  most 
polished  and  park-like  of  all  the  forest  trees — offered  opportunities 
for  the  carving  of  lovers'  names  hi  a  place  where  few  lovers  ever 
come.  HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 

14.  But  when  we  turned  to  the  south  and  east,  how  wonderful 
and  different  was  the  view!    Here  was  no  wide-spread  and  smiling 
landscape  with  gleams  of  silver  scattered  through  it,  and  soft  blue 
haze  resting  upon  its  fading  verge,  but  a  wild  land  of  mountains, 
stern,  rugged,  tumultuous,  rising  one  behind  another  like  the  waves 
of  a  stormy  ocean — Ossa  piled  upon  Pelion, — Mclntyre's  sharp 
peak,  and  the  ragged  crest  of  the  Gothics,  and,  above  all,  Marcy's 
dome-like  head,  raised  just  far  enough  above  the  others  to  assert 
his  royal  right  as  monarch  of  the  Adirondacks. 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 

We  may  have  occasion  to  describe  scenes  in  which  people 
fit  into  the  picture.  Sometimes  the  instant  of  highest  tension 
is  caught,  as  in  a  photograph.  Perhaps  figures  are  moving 


220  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

about  in  swift,  vital  action.  Here  is  opportunity  to  show 
background,  atmosphere,  figures,  motion,  color,  sound — a 
harmonious  whole  made  up  of  many  elements.  There  may 
be  bits  of  narrative,  for  the  action  may  progress  or  change 
in  a  moment.  Here,  too,  contrast  may  be  used.  Every  ele- 
ment of  good  description  enters. 

1.  I  raised  my  eyes,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  spectacle  that 
I  saw.    The  greater  part  of  the  smoke  had  risen,  and  hung  in  a 
canopy  about  twenty  feet  above  the  redoubt.    Through  a  bluish 
haze  I  could  see  the  Russian  grenadiers  behind  their  half-destroyed 
parapet,  with  arms  raised,  motionless  as  statues.     It  seems  to  me 
that  I  can  see  now  each  soldier,  with  his  left  eye  fastened  upon  us, 
the  right  hidden  by  the  leveled  musket.      In  an  embrasure,  a  few 
yards  away,  a  man  stood  beside  a  cannon,  holding  a  fuse. 

I  shuddered,  and  I  thought  that  my  last  hour  had  come. 
The  Taking  of  the  Redoubt,  by  PROSPER  MERIMEE.    Trans,  by 
Geo.  B.  Ives.    "Little  French  Masterpieces  Series." 

2.  As  the  day  grew  old  and  we  passed  rapidly  up  from  the  rear 
to  the  head  of  the  hurrying  column,  the  roar  of  battle  grew  more 
distinct,  until  at  last  we  crowned  a  hill,  and  the  contest  broke  upon 
us.    Across  the  deep  valley,  some  two  miles  away,  we  could  see 
the  white  smoke  of  the  bursting  shells,  while  below  the  sharp 
incessant  rattle  of  the  musketry  told  of  the  fierce  struggle  that  was 
going  on.    Before  us  ran  a  straight,  white,  dusty  road,  choked 
with  artillery,  ambulances,  caissons,  ammunition  trains,  all  pressing 
forward  to  the  field  of  battle,  while  mixed  among  them,  their  bay- 
onets gleaming  through  the  dust  like  wavelets  on  a  river  of  steel, 
tired,  footsore,  hungry,  thirsty,  begrimed  with  sweat  and  dust,  the 
gallant  infantry  of  Sedgewick's  corps  hurried  to  the  sound  of  the 
cannon  as  men  might  have  flocked  to  a  feast.    Moving  rapidly 
forward,  we  crossed  the  brook  which  lay  so  prominently  across  the 
map  of  the  field  of  battle,  and  halted  on  its  farther  side  to  await 
our  orders.    Hardly  had  I  dismounted  from  my  horse,  when  look- 
ing back  I  saw  that  the  head  of  the  column  had  reached  the  brook 
and  deployed  and  halted  on  its  other  bank,  and  already  the  stream 


DESCRIPTION  221 

was  filled  with  naked  men  shouting  with  pleasure  as  they  washed 
off  the  sweat  of  their  long  day's  march.  Even  as  I  looked,  the  noise 
of  battle  grew  louder,  and  soon  the  symptoms  of  movement  were 
evident.  The  rappel  was  heard,  the  bathers  hurriedly  clad  them- 
selves, the  ranks  were  formed,  and  the  sharp,  quick  snap  of  the  per- 
cussion caps  told  us  the  men  were  preparing  their  weapons  for  action. 
Almost  immediately  a  general  officer  rode  up  to  the  front  of  the 
line,  addressed  to  it  a  few  brief,  energetic  words,  the  short  sharp 
order  to  move  by  the  flank  was  given,  followed  immediately  by 
the  "double  quick,"  the  officer  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
column,  and  that  brave  infantry  which  had  marched  almost  forty 
miles  since  the  setting  of  yesterday's  sun — which  during  the  day  had 
hardly  known  either  sleep,  or  food,  or  rest,  or  shelter  from  the  July 
heat, — now,  as  the  shadows  grew  long,  hurried  forward  on  the  run  to 
take  its  place  in  the  front  of  battle  and  to  bear  up  the  reeling  for- 
tunes of  the  day. 

From  Oration  on  Battle  of  Gettysburg  by  CHARLES  FRANCIS 
ADAMS,  Quincy,  Mass.,  July  4,  1869.  "World's  Best  Orations." 

3.  General  Lee,  after  a  cheery  conversation,  parted  the  window 
curtains  and  invited  his  visitors  to  a  tiny  balcony  overhanging  the 
street.  The  view  was  enlivening.  The  Prado  was  bathed  in  the 
effulgence  of  electric  lights,  and  the  statue  of  Isabella  adorning 
the  oblong  park  fronting  the  hotel  looked  like  an  alabaster  figure. 
All  was  life  and  activity.  A  cool  breeze  came  from  the  ocean. 
A  stream  of  well-dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen  poured  along  the 
Prado — dark-eyed  senoras  and  senoritas  with  coquettish  veils, 
volunteers,  regulars,  and  civil  guards,  in  tasty  uniforms,  and  a  cosmo- 
politan sprinkling  of  Englishmen,  Germans,  French,  Italians,  and 
other  nationalities,  Americans  being  conspicuous.  Low-wheeled 
carriages  rattled  over  the  pavements  in  scores,  many  filled  with 
ladies  en  masque,  on  their  way  to  the  ball.  Occasionally  the  notes 
of  a  bugle  were  heard,  and  anon  the  cries  of  negro  newsboys,  shout- 
ing "La  Lucha!" 

Description  of  scene  in  Havana,  by  AMOS  J.  CUMMINGS.  "Con- 
gressional Record." 


222  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  XXVI. 

You  have  seen  a  production  of  some  play,  possibly  one 
that  you  are  reading  in  class.  Describe  some  scene  in  which 
an  important  character  appears  at  an  exciting  moment;  for 
instance,  just  after  Orlando  rushes  in  while  the  exiles  are 
eating,  or  where  Orlando  talks  with  Jaques  while  Celia  and 
Rosalind  listen.  Include  background,  important  details, 
and  take  care  to  show  the  relation  of  objects  and  persons. 
Indicate  bearing  and  expression  of  face. 

Exercise  XXVII. 

Describe  one  of  the  following,  showing  action: 

Skating  scene. 

Scene  at  village  post-office  at  mail-time. 
Scene  at  railway  station  as  train  comes  in. 
Scene  after  church  service. 
Scene  on  circus  grounds,  or  at  the  zoo. 
Ballroom  during  dance. 
Scene  just  after  a  wreck,  or  at  a  fire. 

Scene  on  steamer  deck  or  on  pier,  as  ship  goes  out,  or  enters. 
Scene  before  or  during  or  after  some  ball  game. 
Brooklyn  Bridge  at  the  rush  hour. 

Subway  station  in  New  York  or  Boston  at  8  A.  M.  or  6  P.  M. 
Scene  in  a  large  store,  during  a  bargain  sale,  or  on  Christmas  Eve. 
Street  scene  on  a  main  street  in  a  large  city  after  the  play. 
Scene  during  a  parade. 
Scene  at  a  country  fair. 
Scene  before  or  after  school,  or  at  lunch  time. 
Scene  on  street  at  beginning  of  heavy  shower — (Read  HAW- 
THORNE'S Sights  from  a  Steeple,  in  "Twice-Told  Tales"). 

The  description  of  the  scenes  during  the  advance  of 
the  army,  given  on  pages  220-21,  illustrates  a  kind  of  de- 
scription that  progresses,  though  it  is  not  pure  narrative. 
A  succession  of  pictures  is  given,  without  including  any  in- 
cident. Often  this  is  more  vivid  than  a  single  picture. 


DESCRIPTION  223 

It  gives  opportunity  for  movement,  and  therefore  truly 
presents  a  scene  of  action. 

Exercise  XXVIII. 

Describe  a  race,  or  the  rush  to  a  fire,  or  the  successive 
scenes  in  a  football  game. 

Describe  the  changing  scene  viewed  from  a  moving  train 
or  from  a  river  boat. 

In  giving  the  general  impression,  in  any  of  the  exercises, 
you  have  used  description  by  effect.  This  method  may  be 
used  for  entire  descriptions. 


CHAPTER  VII 

EXPOSITION 
NATURE  OF  EXPOSITION 

The  word  exposition  means  literally  a  setting  out,  or 
laying  open.  Sometimes  the  term  explanation  is  used  in- 
stead. It  is  that  form  of  expression  which  makes  some  in- 
formation or  direction  clear,  which  tells  what  or  how.  It 
does  not  relate  a  series  of  happenings,  or  even  give  an 
account  of  a  single  event  with  continued  action,  as  does 
narrative.  It  may,  however,  state  what  certain  persons  or 
groups  of  persons  are  accustomed  to  do  under  specific  cir- 
cumstances, such  as  the  Saturday  afternoon  dress  parade  at 
West  Point.  Nor  does  exposition  aim  to  reproduce  in  the 
mind  of  the  hearer  a  definite  picture  of  an  individual  per- 
son or  place,  though  it  may  state  what  characteristics  one 
possesses.  In  other  words,  description  gives  a  representation 
of  the  individual  as  distinguished  from  pther  members  of 
a  class  or  type,  but  exposition  states  the  general  marks 
common  to  all  members  of  a  class,  or  states  what  qualities 
the  individual  has  without  showing  the  appearance.  One 
pupil  may  explain  the  plan  or  construction  of  the  school 
building.  Another  may  describe  it,  showing  it  as  he  sees  it, 
without  exact  information  as  to  dimensions.  A  political 
speaker  may  state  fully  what  the  Republican  party  stands 
for  in  that  campaign,  using  exposition,  not  argument,  as  he 
would  in  attempting  to  convince  the  voters  that  they  should 
elect  the  candidates  who  hold  those  principles. 

224 


EXPOSITION  225 

The  purpose,  then,  of  exposition,  is  to  give  information 
of  some  kind  in  a  clear,  accurate  way.  One  may  find  ex- 
position necessary  to  make  others  understand  the  nature  of 
work  to  be  done,  how  to  plan  or  carry  out  the  work,  con- 
ditions that  exist,  processes  that  others  have  followed,  or 
even  the  personal  opinion  of  the  one  giving  the  information, 
or  theories  that  someone  else  holds. 

Exercise  I. 

Read  the  examples  on  pages  207  and  259  to  distinguish 
description,  exposition,  and  argument.  Give  reasons  for 
your  classification. 

CLASSIFICATION 

There  are  various  kinds  of  exposition.  A  simple  defini- 
tion is  one.  So  is  the  explanation  of  what  a  museum  in 
all  its  varied  departments  is.  One  may  state  what  an  auto- 
mobile is.  Then  he  may  give  a  long  and  detailed  account 
of  how  the  machines  are  made  and  placed  on  the  market. 
He  may  state  the  characteristics  or  advantages  of  various 
kinds.  He  may  explain  the  workings  of  the  parts  to  pro- 
duce motion  of  the  whole,  and  state  the  theory  which  the 
inventors  applied.  If  experienced  in  its  use,  he  can  show 
someone  else  how  to  run  it,  and  give  directions  for  proper 
care,  or  how  to  make  repairs.  The  dealer  has,  possibly, 
knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  salesmanship,  which  he 
communicates  to  his  men.  He  also  knows  the  conditions  of 
the  trade,  or  production,  or  increased  cost  of  making  and 
marketing,  which  he  tells  other  dealers,  or  a  prospective 
purchaser.  Of  course,  he  should  be  able  to  give  his  own 
opinions  as  to  the  good  workmanship  and  superiority  of 
the  car  he  sells.  He  should  know  its  qualities  of  speed,  en- 
durance, and  economy  of  fuel.  It  may  be  convenient  for 
him  to  be  able  to  summarize  briefly  the  statements  in  a 


226  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

large  catalog.  Moreover,  he  should  be  able  to  give  sales- 
men aid  in  selling  to  people  known  to  him  in  the  vicinity, 
by  giving  character  sketches  that  reveal  personality,  thus 
enabling  the  agent  to  obtain  the  attention,  the  interest,  and 
the  confidence  of  the  possible  purchaser.  In  fact,  few 
people,  in  any  occupation,  do  not  frequently  have  oppor- 
tunity to  use  all  kinds  of  exposition. 

The  conditions  of  its  use  are  more  varied,  perhaps,  than 
for  other  forms  of  expression.  The  schoolboy  is  stopped  on 
the  street,  and  tells  a  stranger  how  to  reach  the  station  or 
the  shopping  district.  He  reaches  school,  and  tells  his  com- 
panions how  to  make  a  new  kind  of  knot,  or  explains  a 
method  of  play  he  saw  the  day  before.  If  accused  of  break- 
ing an  appointment,  he  states  the  facts  which  explain  his 
action.  If  another  boy  cannot  understand  the  theory  of 
the  steam  engine,  or  the  law  of  gravitation,  he  tries  to 
make  it  clear.  Perhaps  he  sets  forth  the  conditions  that 
make  an  additional  society  in  the  school  desirable,  or  an 
appeal  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  a  new  playground 
necessary.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  will  freely  express 
his  opinions  whenever  occasion  offers,  or  that  he  will  char- 
acterize the  new  boy  or  the  new  teacher  with  great  force- 
fulness.  His  sister,  too,  has  much  the  same  occasion  to 
use  all  kinds  of  explanation,  and  does  it  just  as  glibly;  but 
when  either  one  is  asked  to  say  the  same  kind  of  thing 
formally,  before  a  number  of  people,  it  seems  a  task.  Why 
should  anything  that  is  so  common  a  part  of  the  day's  work 
or  play  be  regarded  as  a  forced,  unnatural  labor,  to  affright 
or  confuse? 

ESSENTIAL  QUALITIES  OF  EXPOSITION 

Exposition,  like  every  other  kind  of  writing  or  talking, 
must  have  some  qualities  in  high  degree,  to  make  it  fulfil 


EXPOSITION  227 

its  purpose.     The  most  necessary  are  those  of  CLEARNESS, 

ACCURACY,  UNITY,  COHERENCE,  EMPHASIS,  AND  CONCISENESS. 

In  order  that  a  series  of  statements  may  be  CLEAR, 
the  subject  should  be  definite.  On  pages  24-30,  we  dis- 
cussed the  choosing  and  limiting  of  a  subject.  The 
material  must  be  so  arranged  that  there  is  a  consistent 
plan.  Otherwise  there  will  be  confusion  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker,  and  consequent  failure  on  the  part  of  the  hearer  to 
grasp  the  subject  or  understand  the  various  phases.  The 
section  on  planning,  pages  34-43  should  be  carefully  read 
for  help  at  this  point.  Simplicity  and  conciseness  of  ex- 
pression also  aid  greatly  in  producing  clearness.  Although 
illustration  may  be  used,  and  is  sometimes  worth  more  than 
general  statements,  words  should  not  be  wasted. 

Examples  of  clear,  concise  statement. 

1.  During  the  mediaeval  ages  and  the  period  following  the  Refor- 
mation thousands  of  persons  were  put  to  death  because  charged 
with  practicing  magic  and  witchcraft.    It  was  held  that  anyone  who 
indulged  in  such  practices  violated  the  law  of  God  and  man.    A 
belief  in  witchcraft  and  magic  was  prevalent  in  the  public  mind. 
Prosecution  did  not  diminish  the  alleged  practice  nor  lessen  the  be- 
lief.   Putting  to  death  merely  accentuated  the  whole  situation.    The 
thundering  of  the  pulpit,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  the  combined 
efforts  of  civil  authorities  were  impotent  to  prevent  these  practices. 
They  only  ceased  when  a  few  wise  men  stated  flatfootedly  that 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  practicing  magic  or  witchcraft,  because 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  magic  or  witchcraft.    And  then  it  was 
all  over.  From  Common  Sense  in  Politics,  by  JOB  HEDGES. 

2.  In  France,  where  they  have  the  best  roads  in  the  world,  at 
the  head  of  the  road  system  there  is  a  magnificent  technical  school 
of  roads  and  bridges,  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  National 
Government,  from  which  graduates  are  chosen  as  highway  engineers 
to  build  and  maintain  the  roads  of  France.    There  is  an  immediate 
cooperation  between  the  Republic,  the  departments,  and  the  com- 


228  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

munes  as  completely  as  an  organized  army,  directed  by  the  most 
intelligent  head  possible  to  obtain. 

At  the  head  of  the  administrative  organization  is  a  director  gen- 
eral of  bridges  and  highways,  under  whom  are  the  chief  engineers, 
ordinary  engineers,  and  subordinate  engineers,  the  latter  being 
equivalent  in  rank  to  non-commissioned  officers  in  the  army.  The 
subdivisions  are  under  the  direction  of  principal  conductors  and 
ordinary  conductors.  Next  in  line  come  the  foremen  of  construc- 
tion gangs,  the  clerks  employed  at  headquarters,  and,  finally,  the 
patrolmen,  each  having  from  4  to  7  kilometers  of  highway  under 
his  immediate  supervision. 

The  great  administrative  machine  working  in  complete  harmony, 
with  definite  lines  of  responsibility  clearly  established,  accomplishes 
results  with  military  precision  and  regularity.  In  this  great  army 
of  workers  not  the  least  important  unit  is  the  patrolman,  who  has 
charge  of  a  single  section  of  the  road.  He  keeps  the  ditches  open, 
carefully  fills  holes  and  ruts  with  broken  stone,  removes  dust  and 
deposits  of  sand  and  earth  after  heavy  rains,  removes  the  trees, 
shrubs,  and  bushes,  and  when  ordinary  work  is  impossible  breaks 
stone  and  transports  it  to  the  point  where  it  is  likely  to  be  needed. 
He  brings  all  matters  requiring  attention  to  the  notice  of  his  chief. 

Every  detail  requiring  attention  is  carefully  noted  and  reported 
to  the  central  authorities,  so  that  at  any  time  the  exact  condition 
of  every  foot  of  road  throughout  France  may  be  ascertained. 

Here  is  a  system,  the  best  in  the  world,  over  whose  magnificent 
highways  vast  volumes  of  farm  products  find  their  way  at  a  cost 
of  from  7  cents  to  1 1  cents  a  ton  per  mile.  Over  these  roads  motor 
cars  can  travel  50  miles  an  hour  without  danger.  They  are  beauti- 
ful. They  are  lined  on  either  side  by  ornamental  and  fruit  trees. 
They  are  of  great  commercial  value.  They  lower  the  cost  of  living, 
both  to  the  town  and  the  country,  by  furnishing  the  city  with  cheap 
food  and  furnishing  the  country  with  cheap  freight  in  transporting 
their  products  to  town  and  their  materials  back  to  the  farm. 

In  France  at  the  present  time  there  are  23,656  miles  of  national 
routes,  which  cost  $303,975,000  to  build.  There  are  316,898  miles 
of  local  highways,  built  at  a  cost  of  $308,800,000,  of  which  the  State 


EXPOSITION  229 

furnished  $81,060,000  and  the  interested  localities  $227,740,000. 
The  roads  of  France  are  classified  into  five  different  divisions: 

First.  The  national  routes,  traversing  the  various  departments 
and  connecting  important  centers  of  population. 

Second.  The  department  routes,  connecting  the  important 
centers  of  a  single  department  and  bisecting  the  national  routes. 

Third.  Highways  of  general  communication,  little  less  important 
than  the  previous  class. 

Fourth.  Highways  of  public  interest,  traversing  a  single  canton 
and  connecting  remote  villages  with  more  important  roads. 

Fifth.  Private  roads. 

In  the  German  Empire  a  similar  system  prevails,  and  these  great 
nations,  including  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  for  that  matter,  set 
an  example  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  which  they  would  do 
well  to  follow. 

In  England  they  have  a  much  more  localized  system,  and  in  con- 
sequence there  is  in  England  the  most  striking  example  of  lack  of 
uniformity  of  road  work  and  of  excessive  expenditure  in  proportion 
to  mileage. 

The  most  perfect  road  system,  however,  is  that  of  France,  which 
has  the  most  highly  centralized  management  of  all  the  road  systems. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  Mr.  President,  to  go  into  detail  with  regard 
to  the  best  methods  of  construction,  but  only  to  point  out  the 
extreme  importance  of  centralized  initiative  and  centralized  knowledge 
proceeding  with  efficiency  upon  a  fixed  basis. 

From  speech  on  Good  Roads  by  SENATOR  OWEN.  "  Congressional 
Record." 

Exercise  II. 

Bring  to  class  three  terms,  each  representing  something 
that  you  would  like  defined,  or  so  clearly  explained  that  you 
would  thoroughly  understand  it. 

Exercise  III. 

Define  or  explain  one  of  the  topics  on  pages  230-1.  Let 
two  pupils  take  the  same  subject,  in  some  instances,  for 
comparison  later  in  class  as  to  clearness  of  exposition. 


230  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

1.  A  Roman  phalanx. 

2.  A  Roman  legion. 

3.  An  Egyptian  obelisk. 

4.  The  Rosetta  stone. 

5.  An  Egyptian  pyramid. 

6.  An  encyclopeolia. 

7.  The  English  Constitution. 

8.  The  American  Constitution. 

9.  What  the  dead-letter  office  is. 

10.  How  the  Weather  Bureau  works. 

11.  Naturalization. 

12.  Direct  legislation. 

13.  The  recall. 

14.  How  a  criminal  or  civil  trial  is  conducted. 

15.  A  party  primary,  or  a  political  convention. 

16.  A  party  platform. 

17.  A  manor. 

18.  Feudalism.     (Not  in  detail,  but  so  as  to  give  the  main  idea.) 

19.  A  tornado. 

20.  A  blizzard. 

21.  An  iceberg. 

22.  How  money  is  made,  or  postage  stamps. 

23.  How  money  gets  into  circulation,  and  is  withdrawn. 

24.  How  the  scenery  of  a  play  is  changed. 

25.  A  "skyscraper." 

26.  An  apartment  house. 

27.  The  Smithsonian  Institute. 

28.  The  Rockefeller  Foundation,  or  the  Carnegie  Foundation. 

29.  What  mathematics  is,  or  geology,  or  physics,  or  chemistry, 
or  astronomy. 

30.  What  civics  is,  or  history,  or  economics,  or  literature. 

31.  What  a  water  wave,  or  light  wave,  is. 

32.  Atwood's  machine. 

33.  What  a  dynamo  is. 

34.  What  a  volcano  is. 

35.  What  a  glacier  is. 


EXPOSITION  231 

36.  What  an  earthquake  is. 

37.  What  is  meant  by  alternation  of  generations. 

38.  How  condensed  milk  is  made,  or  vegetables,  fruit,  or  meat 
canned. 

39.  How  moving  pictures  are  made  and  reproduced. 

40.  What  is  meant  by  the  rotation  of  crops. 

41.  What  is  meant  by  scientific  management. 

42.  What  wireless  telegraphy  is. 

43.  What  is  meant  by  the  theory  of  evolution. 

44.  The  Republican,  or  Democratic,  or  Progressive,  or  Socialist 
Party. 

45.  How  books  are  advertised,  or  machinery,  or  clothing. 

EXAMPLES   OP  DEFINITION 

1.  What  is  a  Democrat?    He  is  an  individualist.    He  believes  in 
the  right  of  every  man  to  be  and  to  make  of  himself  all  that  God 
has  put  into  him.    He  is  a  man  who  believes  and  practices  the  doc- 
trine of  equal  rights  and  the  duty  and  obligation  of  seeing  to  it  as 
far  as  he  can  that  no  man  shall  be  denied  the  chances  in  life  which 
God  intended  him  to  have.    He  is  a  man  who  believes  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  who  is  filled  with  that  spirit  of 
equality  which  has  made  this  country  of  ours  the  refuge  of  the  op- 
pressed of  all  the  world  and  the  hope  of  this  age  and  of  all  ages  to 
come.  GOVERNOR  AYCOCK. 

2.  Political  parties,  popular  notions  to  the  contrary,  are  any  two 
or  more  individuals  acting  with  a  common  purpose.    The  size  of 
the  party  does  not  change  the  proposition,  but  merely  extends  the 
degree  of  influence. 

Political  organizations  are  the  standing  committees  of  parties, 
charged  with  their  internal  management  between  conventions  and 
during  campaigns. 

Bosses  are  persons  of  official  or  unofficial  authority  in  party 
organizations  whose  position  is  due  to  their  own  capacity,  or  to  the 
quiescence  of  those  over  whom  their  influence  extends. 

From  Common  Sense  in  Politics  by  JOB  HEDGES. 


232  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

3.  What  is  a  trust?  It  is  a  combination  of  capital  designed  to  sim- 
plify and  unify  business,  or  a  combination  of  labor,  designed  to 
simplify  and  unify  industry.  It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore,  that  there 
can  be  good  trusts  and  bad  trusts,  just  as  there  can  be  good  men  and 
bad  men.  A  trust  is  a  good  trust  when  it  performs  the  work  for 
which  it  has  been  organized,  and  produces  better  goods  at  cheaper 
prices  and  delivers  them  to  the  consumer  more  conveniently  than 
a  dozen  different  concerns  could  do.  The  consumer  is  the  sovereign 
factor.  The  well-being  of  the  masses  is  the  result  of  every  indus- 
trial development  that  endures. 

A  trust  is  a  bad  trust  when  it  raises  prices  dishonestly  and  without 
other  reason  than  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  its  managers.  A  man  is 
a  bad  man  when  he  steals,  and,  when  he  does  that,  he  ought  to  be 
put  in  jail.  A  trust  is  a  bad  trust  when  it  dishonestly  raises  prices 
and,  when  it  does  that,  its  managers  ought  to  be  put  in  jail.  But 
because  one  man  steals  is  no  reason  why  all  men  should  be  put  in 
jail;  and  because  one  trust  is  dishonest  is  no  reason  why  all  trust 
managers  should  be  put  in  jail .  .  . 

Let  me  give  you  Nebraska  farmers  a  perfect  illustration  of  a 
trust  that  every  farmer  in  this  country  operates  himself — the  self- 
binding  harvester.  I  got  the  job  of  driving  the  first  self-binding 
harvester  that  was  sent  to  Central  Illinois  by  the  McCormicks. 
It  was  an  old  wire  binder.  It  was  a  trust.  It  was  the  only  trust 
with  which  I  ever  had  anything  to  do.  It  did  what  several  machines 
and  implements  were  required  to  do  before.  It  enabled  the  farmer 
to  harvest  and  market  his  grain  at  much  less  cost  than  he  was  able 
to  do  before.  The  first  season  the  self-binding  harvester  appeared 
in  Illinois,  the  same  arguments  were  advanced  against  it  that  are 
now  advanced  against  trusts. 


Let  me  give  you  another  and  simpler  example  of  the  trust. 
There  is  in  this  country  a  great  railway  system  called  "The  Big 
Four  Railroad."  A  great  deal  of  it  is  in  Indiana,  and  most  of  it 
is  in  that  state  and  hi  Ohio.  I  remember  the  time  when  the  rail- 
roads that  formed  what  is  now  the  Big  Four  Railroad  system  were 


EXPOSITION  233 

short,  separate  lines.  Service  on  each  of  these  lines  was  poor. 
Cars  were  bad.  Tracks  and  roadbeds  were  far  from  safe. 

The  passenger  who  wanted  to  travel  any  considerable  distance 
had  to  get  off  the  cars  at  one  end  of  a  line  and  get  on  other  cars  of 
another  line,  and  the  longer  he  traveled  the  more  he  had  to  do  this. 
He  had  to  pay  higher  fare  than  now  and  to  buy  many  separate 
tickets.  The  employees  of  these  various  lines  were  fewer  in  number 
than  they  are  now  and  were  paid  smaller  wages.  Frequently  the 
lines  went  into  the  hands  of  receivers  and  the  workingmen  had 
trouble  hi  getting  their  wages  at  all. 

Finally  a  wise  manager  combined  these  lines  into  one  system. 
What  was  the  result?  More  trains,  faster  tune,  better  cars,  cheaper 
rates  and  through  service.  You  can  now  get  on  one  of  that  system's 
trains,  and,  without  change,  go  to  distant  points  which  before  re- 
quired two  or  three  changes  and  two  or  three  tickets.  The  system 
employs  many  more  men  than  the  separate  lines  employed.  The 
service  is  greatly  improved.  The  convenience  to  the  passenger  is 
not  a  comparison  but  a  contrast  with  what  it  used  to  be.  There- 
fore, there  is  more  traveling,  more  business.  You  are  carried  more 
cheaply  in  palace  cars;  your  grain  is  hauled  at  lower  rates  of  freight, 
more  safely  and  more  speedily.  And  so  it  is  that  a  miracle  is 
wrought,  better  service  and  cheaper  rates  to  the  public  on  the  one 
hand,  and  more  employment  and  higher  wages  to  the  employees  on 
the  other  hand;  at  the  same  time,  more  profit  to  the  stockholders 
who  own  the  road. 

Extracts  from  Campaign  Speech  by  ALBERT  J.  BEVERIDQE  at 
Columbus,  Nebraska,  Sept.  28,  1900.  The  Meaning  of  the  Times 
and  Other  Speeches.  Copyright,  1909,  by  The  Bobbs,  Merrill  Co. 
Used  by  permission. 

Exercise  IV. 

Select  one  of  the  subjects  on  pages  234-5,  and,  after 
careful  planning,  by  noting  on  paper  the  necessary  steps, 
tell  the  class  how  to  do  the  work.  Give  special  attention 
to  clearness.  Be  sure  to  include  everything  necessary  to 
enable  a  hearer  to  follow  your  directions.  Use  drawings  at 
the  board  if  they  will  be  helpful. 


234  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

1.  How  to  make  bread,  or  some  kind  of  cake  or  pie,  or  pudding, 
or  salad. 

2.  How  to  launder  lace,  or  a  shirtwaist. 

3.  How  to  make  some  dainty,  inexpensive  Christmas  gift. 

4.  How  to  decorate  a  table  or  room  for  some  special  occasion, 
as  for  a  party  on  some  holiday,  or  class  social. 

5.  How  to  furnish  a  boy's  room. 

6.  How  to  furnish  a  room  in  colonial  style. 

7.  How  to  plant  a  vegetable  or  flower  garden. 

8.  How  to  plan  an  old-fashioned  flower  garden. 

9.  How  to  take  care  of  palms,  ferns,  or  any  kind  of  plant. 

10.  How  to  care  for  a  garden. 

11.  How  to  care  for  a  lawn. 

12.  How  to  graft  or  bud  a  fruit-tree. 

13.  How  to  cut  down  a  tree. 

14.  How  to  care  for  a  pet  bird  or  animal 

15.  How  to  teach  a  dog  tricks. 

16.  How  to  trim  a  hedge. 

17.  How  to  develop  and  print  a  photograph. 

18.  How  to  make  a  battery. 

19.  How  to  put  up  a  tent. 

20.  How  to  pack  a  trunk,  or  a  camping  outfit. 

21.  How  to  make,  and  to  extinguish,  a  camp  fire. 

22.  How  to  revive  a  fainting  or  drowning  person. 

23.  How  to  save  a  drowning  person. 

24.  How  to  treat  some  common  injury. 

25.  How  to  ship  goods  from to by  the  cheapest, 

or  the  nearest  way. 

26.  How  to  reach most  quickly  from . 

27.  How  to  make  a  shirtwaist,  or  dress  of  some  specific  style. 

28.  How  to  make  some  new  play  hi  a  game  known  to  your  hear- 
ers. 

29.  How  to  use  the  dictionary,  or  a  cyclopedia,  or  the  library. 

30.  A  good  way  to  prepare  a  certain  lesson  in  French,  German, 
or^  history. 

31.  How  to  prepare  for  examinations. 


EXPOSITION  235 

32.  How  to  read  a  newspaper. 

33.  How  to  fix  a  broken  hinge, 

34.  How  to  file  a  saw. 

35.  How  to  prepare  a  certain  kind  of  rough  board  for  use  in  the 
shop. 

36.  How  to  care  for  an  engine,  or  any  machine. 

37.  How  to  care  for  horses,  or  cows. 

38.  How  to  pack  eggs,  or  some  other  breakable,  for  parcel  post. 

39.  How  to  put  up  a  telephone  line  to  your  neighbor's  house. 

40.  How  to  construct  a  mail-box  signal,  to  be  seen  at  some  dis- 
tance. 

41.  How  to  perform  a  certain  experiment,  in  physics  or  chemistry. 

42.  How  to  mount  flowers,  or  insects,  or  how  to  stuff  birds. 

43.  How  to  clean  a  fish,  or  prepare  some  small  animal  for  cooking. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  criticisms  of  our  high  school 
graduates  is  that  they  are  not  accurate,  either  in  following 
instructions  or  in  performing  routine  tasks.  Although  some 
people  are  gifted  with  exceptional  natural  attention  to  de- 
tail, ACCURACY  is  a  quality  that  can  be  cultivated.  As  an 
aid  in  attaining  success,  by  increasing  the  value  of  one's 
services,  it  cannot  be  overestimated.  If  one  is  constantly 
making  mistakes  he  wastes  much  time  correcting  them. 
He  may  be  put  to  great  inconvenience  as  a  result  of  some 
trivial  omission  or  distortion.  Worse  still,  he  may  not  only 
cause  heavy  expense  to  his  employers,  but  may  even  entail 
great  loss  of  life. 

A  few  years  ago  the  General  Electric  Company  received 
an  order  from  a  European  country  for  several  large  pieces 
of  electrical  apparatus.  Although  it  was  the  custom  to 
test  all  machines  sent  out,  in  this  case  the  testing  was  im- 
possible, because  of  the  lack  of  a  suitable  space.  So  the 
parts  of  the  machines  were  packed  and  shipped,  and  a  man 
sent  along  to  assemble  the  parts  and  set  up  the  whole.  The 
machine  failed  to  work.  There  were  parts  which  did  not 


236  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

articulate.  On  investigation,  it  was  found  that  a  slight  mis- 
take had  been  made  in  the  drawing  from  which  blue-prints 
had  been  made  for  the  pattern-maker.  The  apparatus, 
worth  seventy  thousand  dollars,  was  thrown  away.  The 
company,  taught  by  the  costly  mistake,  erected  a  large 
building  solely  for  the  purpose  of  testing  such  machines. 

The  student  who  permits  himself  to  become  habitually 
careless  is  injuring  himself  most  of  all,  for  his  character, 
forming  day  by  day,  is  inevitably  affected  by  his  manner  of 
work  or  speech.  Slip-shod,  slovenly  methods  become  so 
ingrained  that  the  earnest  man,  seeking  to  better  himself 
and  his  service,  is  bound  by  the  iron  chains  of  habit  forged 
in  a  careless  youth.  He  cannot  then  always  "do  it  over." 
He  must  often  send  out  what  cannot  be  recalled,  what  is 
acted  on  by  people  beyond  his  reach.  As  a  matter  of  com- 
mon honesty,  too,  the  boy  or  girl  who  under-  or  overstates, 
who  twists  the  statement  or  directions  of  another  to  some- 
thing very  different  in  meaning,  is  laying  the  foundations 
for  a  habitual  mental  crookedness  that,  no  matter  how  well 
intentioned,  how  far  from  deliberate  falsehood,  is  sometimes 
more  deadly  than  a  malicious  lie.  Who  can  afford  to  build 
a  character  on  a  foundation  of  inaccuracy,  in  writing  or 
speech? 

Exercise  V. 

Make  an  outline,  with  main  and  subheadings,  according 
to  forms  on  pages  40,  41,  243,  for  a  talk,  explanatory  in 
nature,  on  one  of  the  following.  Develop  your  points  in  a 
short  talk  before  the  class,  being  careful  to  state  accurately 
and  impartially  whatever  facts  are  essential  to  a  clear 
understanding  on  the  part  of  your  hearers. 

Some  club  in  your  town. 

The  young  people's  society  in  your  denomination. 

Some  society  in  your  school  or  in  another  school. 


EXPOSITION  237 

Some  organization,  such  as  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  H.  A.,  the  Y.  M.  H.  A.,  the  S.  P.  C.  C., 
the  S.  P.  C.  A.,  the  S.  I.  C.  P.,  the  G.  A.  R.,  the  Sons  (or  Daughters) 
of  the  Revolution,  the  Colonial  Dames,  the  S.  P.  U.  G. 

The  Anti-Saloon  League. 

The  United  Charities. 

Exercise  VI. 

Make  an  outline,  and  develop  a  short  talk,  clear  and  im- 
partial, on  the  origin  of  one  of  the  following: 

Any  political  party,  in  this  or  another  country. 

Some  church. 

Mormonism. 

Spiritualism. 

Christian  Science. 

Some  organization,  such  as  a  secret  or  benefit  society. 

Exercise  VII. 

Outline,  and  develop  before  the  class,  a  talk  on  one  of 
the  following,  being  especially  careful  to  give  an  accurate, 
impartial  statement,  purely  explanatory,  of  the  principles 
or  theory  involved: 

1.  Free  trade. 

2.  Reciprocity. 

3.  Protective  tariff. 

4.  The  single  tax,  or  the  income  tax,  or  the  franchise  tax. 

5.  Manhood  suffrage. 

6.  The  divine  right  of  kings. 

7.  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

8.  Municipal  ownership,  or  government  ownership 

9.  Community  ownership. 

10.  The  principles  of  any  political  party  in  this  or  any  other  coun- 
try. 

11.  The  Whigs,  or  the  Tories,  in  England  hi  the  18th  century. 

12.  The  Jacobins. 


238  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

13.  Radicalism. 

14.  Socialism  as  advocated  by . 

15.  The  beliefs  of  the  Quakers,  of  the  Shakers,  or  of  any  sect 
recently  formed. 

16.  The  beliefs  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  tune  of  Henry 
VIII. 

17.  The  tenets  of  the  Separatists  in  the  17th  century. 

18.  The  tenets  of  any  religious  body  having  a  church  organiza- 
tion. 

Exercise  VIII. 

Make  an  outline  and  develop  in  a  short  talk  before  the 
class  an  explanation  of  the  theory  or  principles  of  one  of 
the  following: 

1.  The  kinetic  theory. 

2.  The  electron  theory. 

3.  The  nebular  theory. 

4.  Some  one  scientists's  theory  of  evolution. 

5.  The  principle  of  Davy's  lamp  for  mines. 

6.  The  glacial  theory. 

7.  Any  scientific  theory  with  which  you  are  familiar. 

8.  The  principle  of  the  telephone,  or  telegraphy,  or  wireless 
telegraphy. 

9.  The  principle  of  the  steam  engine,  or  the  gasoline  engine,  or 
of  the  electric  motor  in  street  cars  without  trolley. 

Since  clearness  is  so  essential  to  exposition,  UNITY 
must  be  carefully  preserved.  There  must  be  a  central  idea. 
The  subject  "vacations"  would  be  vague.  No  one  could 
tell  what  the  speaker  would  really  talk  about.  But  the 
subject  "the  value  of  vacations"  would  have  a  central  idea, 
which  could  be  treated  in  various  phases.  "Games"  would 
be  too  general;  but  "the  favorite  sports  of  the  English," 
or  "the  American  national  game,"  or  "high  school  games," 
or  "summer  sports  in  the  country,"  all  suggest  something 


EXPOSITION  239 

definite,  though  with  several  divisions.  Schoolboys  of  a 
half-century  ago  sometimes  attempted  to  write  composi- 
tions about  "Indians."  No  wonder  they  found  it  difficult! 
But  if  you  try*  to  outline  a  short  essay  on  "Indian  war- 
fare" or  "Indian  character,"  you  do  not  find  the  task  a 
hard  one. 

This  limiting  of  the  subject  will  also  help  in  keeping  to 
some  one  central  idea.  You  may  have  heard  people  ram- 
ble on  about  various  things,  scarcely  touching  on  what 
they  were  supposed  to  talk  about.  Digression  of  this  kind 
is  just  as  fatal  to  interest  and  to  clearness  in  exposition 
as  it  is  in  narration.  A  person  entering  the  room,  or  speak- 
ing to  you,  while  you  are  busy,  distracts  your  attention, 
and  may  even  make  it  impossible  for  you  to  go  on  from 
that  point.  Just  so,  the  entrance  of  a  foreign  subject 
distracts  the  thought  of  the  brain,  so  that  the  listener  feels 
the  breaking  of  the  thread  of  continuity.  If  the  talk  is 
about  "Indian  warfare,"  it  would  be  incongruous  and  out 
of  place  to  bring  in  a  discussion  of  the  Great  Spirit,  unless 
that  is  in  some  direct  way  connected  with  the  preparations 
for  warfare.  Even  if  it  is,  would  not  a  reference,  with  a 
sentence  of  explanation  if  necessary,  be  sufficient,  instead 
of  a  full  account  of  the  religious  system? 

Exercise  IX. 

After  careful  examination  of  the  outlines  on  pages  40,  41, 
243  write  the  main  headings,  not  more  than  four  in  number, 
probably,  for  a  talk  on  one  of  the  following: 

1.  The  school  system  of  your  city. 

2.  An  exhibition,  or  fair,  or  convention,  recently  held  in  your 
town. 

3.  The  choice  of  a  President  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  planning  of  a  home. 


240  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

5.  The  care  of  the  sick. 

6.  The  Erie,  or  some  other  canal. 

7.  The  McAdoo  tunnel. 

8.  The  street-railway  transfer  system  in  your  city. 

9.  The  making  of  a  newspaper. 

10.  The  postal  system  in  your  city. 

11.  The  state  library. 

12.  The  city  fire  department. 

13.  The  city  Board  of  Health. 

14.  The  game  of  football,  or  baseball,  or  basket-ball,  or  some 
other. 

15.  The fraternity,  or  sorority,  or  club. 

16.  The  new  park. 

17.  The  local  governing  body  of  your  town  or  city. 

18.  The  —          -  Labor  Union. 

19.  The  recent  strike  of  -  — . 

20.  The  production  of  some  crop,  as  wheat,  com,  rye,  oranges, 
celery,  apples,  berries,  or  any  other  of  your  locality. 

21.  The  chief  industry  of  your  town. 

22.  The  parcel  post. 

23.  The  tax  system  of  the  nation,  or  state,  or  county,  or  city. 

24.  The  city  water  supply. 

25.  The  milk  supply  of  large  cities. 

Exercise  X. 

Test  your  main  headings  for  the  qualities  of  relation  to 
the  subject,  coordination,  mutual  exclusiveness,  and  com- 
prehensiveness. See  pages  34-43  for  discussion  of  outlining. 

The  matter  of  comprehensiveness  should  have  special  at- 
tention. Most  students  fail  to  cover  the  subject  assigned. 
The  reason  for  this  may  be  neglect  in  generalizing  suf- 
ficiently, in  the  main  points.  Many  subjects  fall  naturally 
into  several  divisions,  as  cause  or  origin,  nature,  results  or 
effects;  purpose,  nature,  influence;  composition,  work,  bene- 
fits; others  have  more  specific  phases,  or  points  based  on 


EXPOSITION  241 

time.    You  will  find  on  page  35  a  discussion  of  the  bases 
of  division. 

Subordination  of  phases  of  the  general  subject  to  the 
whole  is  vitally  important  to  unity  in  exposition.  If  a 
minor  point  is  raised  out  of  its  natural  rank,  it  is  mag- 
nified beyond  its  deserts,  and  serves  more  to  detract  from 
the  real  importance  of  the  major  point  than  to  give  the 
support  it  should.  Only  by  carefully  formulating  the  main 
heads  can  subordinate  points  be  rightly  found,  for  the  sub- 
points  are  the  natural  divisions  of  these.  When  the  major 
term  covers  the  group,  the  elements  in  the  group  are 
subordinate,  and  the  individuals,  numbering  more,  form 
the  next  lower  order.  Compare  the  organization  of  the 
army.  This  is  made  up  of  parts  called  corps,  each  or- 
ganized as  a  complete  army  in  itself.  Each  corps  consists 
of  two  or  more  divisions.  Each  division  is  made  up  of  two 
or  more  brigades.  The  brigades  in  turn  are  divided  into 
two  or  more  regiments,  each  of  which  consists  of  about 
ten  companies.  You  will  readily  see  that,  though  one  corps 
may  be  of  marines,  another  of  engineers,  etc.,  the  lower 
orders  have  certain  relative  ranks  that  must  be  kept. 
Nevertheless,  though  all  regiments  are  equal  in  rank,  one 
may  be  of  white  men,  a  second  of  negroes,  a  third  of  In- 
dians. 

Exercise  XL 

Fill  in  the  necessary  subheadings  under  main  headings 
made  in  Exercise  IX. 

So  much  for  the  ranking.  If,  in  the  organization  of  a 
factory,  the  section  doing  certain  work  had  three  divisions, 
each  engaged  on  a  special  phase  of  it,  all  equally  important, 
but  different,  the  placing  of  one  of  those  divisions  in  an- 
other section,  though  not  changing  its  rank,  would  dis- 


242  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

organize  and  confuse  both  sections,  and  make  work  toward 
the  unified,  harmonious  whole  impossible.  So,  in  explain- 
ing the  work  of  such  a  factory,  one  must  avoid  confusing 
parts  that  do  not  belong  together.  He  must  keep  the  di- 
visions in  their  places. 

In  the  beginning  and  ending  of  the  talk,  also,  is  oppor- 
tunity for  preserving  unity.  The  beginning  leads  to  the 
specific  subject,  narrowing  the  general,  making  the  abstract 
concrete,  rendering  the  vague  definite,  and  stating  clearly 
the  exact  subject  or  theme.  The  theme  sentence  should  be 
simple,  concise,  and  clear.  It  is  not  for  embellishment, 
but  for  statement  of  the  centra)  idea. 

The  ending  should  show  that  the  discussion  of  this  phase 
of  the  subject,  named  in  the  theme  sentence,  is  finished. 
It  should  make  clear  just  what  marks  the  limits,  and  should 
indicate  that  other  related  matter  belongs  to  another  topic. 

Exercise  XII. 

Study  the  plans,  making  full  outlines  if  necessary,  of 
speeches  beginning  on  pages  364,  370,  378  and  383. 

Exercise  XIII. 

Read  the  examples  of  introduction  on  page  46,  with 
the  discussion  of  types  preceding.  Note  especially  the  ap- 
proach to  the  specific  subject  and  the  theme  sentence. 

Exercise  XIV. 

Form  a  theme  sentence  for  the  main  headings  you  wrote 
for  Exercise  IX,  on  page  239. 

Formulate  the  points,  perhaps  two  main  ones  with  one 
order  of  sub-points,  at  least  two  of  each  set,  leading  up  to 
the  theme  sentence. 


EXPOSITION  243 

THE  STUDY  OF  GARDENING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Introduction. 

I.  Many  feel  that  the  city  child  should  know  something  of  work- 
ing in  the  ground. 

II.  He  has  no  opportunities  for  gardening. 

A.  At  home. 

1.  No  interest  by  parents. 

2.  Often  no  space. 

B.  In  parks,  digging  forbidden. 

III.  Therefore,  courses   in  gardening  have   been  introduced  hi 
some  public  schools. 

Discussion. 

I.  There  are  various  purposes  in  this  instruction. 

A.  To  arouse 

1.  Willingness  of  children  to  work. 

2.  Interest  in  growing  things. 

3.  Pride  of  ownership. 

4.  Appreciation  of  beauty  hi  nature. 

B.  To  teach 

1.  Economy. 

2.  Concentration  of  effort. 

3.  Care  of  property. 

C.  To  prevent 

1.  Development  of  harmful  ways  of  spending  tune. 

2.  Sluggish  inactivity  in  poor  air  and  light. 

II.  Such  school  gardening  has  proved  practicable. 

A.  Places. 

1.  School  playgrounds. 

2.  Vacant  plots  near  schools. 

B.  Method  of  maintenance. 

1.  School  giving  fairs. 

2.  Necessities  purchased  from  proceeds  of  sale  of 
products. 

3.  Contributions  from  interested  persons. 


244  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

C.  Instruction  and  aid. 

1.  In  lower  schools,  as  nature  study. 

a.  Plants  in  gardens. 

b.  Bugs  and  worms. 

(1)  Helpful,  as  bees. 

(2)  Harmful,  as  grubs. 

2.  In  higher  schools,  in  connection  with  botany  and 
zoology. 

a.  Nature  and  structure  of  plants. 

b.  Varieties  of  animal  life  involved. 
III.  Good  results  have  been  obtained. 

A.  Practical. 

1.  Flowers. 

a.  Used  as  objects  for  drawing. 

b.  Used  in  botany  classes. 

2.  Vegetables. 

a.  Used  in  cooking  classes. 

c.  Used  hi  pupils'  homes. 

B.  ^Esthetic. 

1.  Increased  appreciation  of  nature. 

2.  Adornment  of  school  by  flowers  and  plants. 

C.  Healthful. 

1.  Giving  outdoor  exercise. 

2.  Giving  change  hi  study. 

3.  Furnishing  needed  interest. 
Conclusion. 

I.  The  objections  formerly  made  to  such  gardening  seem  to  have 

been  shown  groundless. 

II.  Successful  experiments  have  been  tried  hi  certain  schools 
(names). 

III.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  many  others  will  try  gardening. 

Every  kind  of  composition,  whether  spoken  or  written, 
must  depend  largely  for  clearness  on  COHERENCE.  This 
word  means  a  sticking  together.  You  all  know  that  the 
parts  of  a  thing  must  be  rightly  put  together  if  the  whole 


EXPOSITION  245 

is  to  be  of  any  use.  If  you  have  the  seat,  back,  and  legs 
of  a  chair,  you  cannot  achieve  a  result  of  value  by  putting 
the  back  where  the  front  legs  should  go,  and  the  legs  on 
the  top.  If  you  cut  out  the  parts  of  a  waist,  but  inter- 
change the  sleeves,  or  put  a  section  of  the  front  in  the  back, 
the  garment  cannot  be  worn.  A  talk  put  together  with 
like  carelessness  would  be  worth  just  as  little.  It  would 
be  confusing  to  the  hearer. 

There  are  two  principal  ways  of  obtaining  coherence. 
The  first  is  a  natural  one.  Follow  the  natural,  logical  order. 
In  the  explanation  of  a  proposition,  some  statements  neces- 
sarily precede  others,  because  the  latter  are  dependent  on 
them.  In  showing  a  process,  the  time  order  can  most  easily 
be  used.  In  a  summary,  the  points  come  in  the  same  order 
as  in  the  larger  work.  In  the  expression  of  an  opinion,  the 
premises  are  naturally  followed  by  the  deduction.  In  many 
subjects  one  point,  such  as  purpose,  most  readily  suggests 
the  next,  work  or  methods.  The  second,  or  more  artificial, 
method  is  that  of  inserting  something  to  make  the  transi- 
tion smoother.  A  link  paragraph  of  two  or  three  sentences 
may  be  used  in  talks  of  considerable  length.  This  shows 
the  change  to  another  phase,  and  can  be  emphasized  by  the 
bearing.  In  a  short  talk  there  is  no  time  to  waste.  Then, 
a  sentence  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  paragraph,  together 
with  the  concluding  sentence  of  the  last  preceding  one,  forms 
the  bridge.  Sometimes  the  transition  is  made  by  a  clause 
or  phrase  at  the  beginning  of  the  topic  sentence  for  that 
division.  More  often  a  word  serves  to  show  the  connection 
between  minor  points. 

LINK  PARAGRAPHS 

1.  And  now,  fellow-citizens,  without  pursuing  the  biography  of 
these  illustrious  men  farther,  for  the  present,  let  us  turn  our  atten- 


246  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

tion  to  the  most  prominent  act  of  their  lives,  their  participation  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

.    From  Adams  and  Jefferson  by  WEBSTER. 

2.  The  constructive  possibilities  that  are  embraced  in  the  coming 
of  immigration  are  beyond  our  power  to  compute  at  present.    But 
there  are  two  great  elements  involved  to  which  especial  attention 
must  be  called. 

JOSEPH  H.  HART. 

3.  I  choose,  Sir,  to  enter  into  these  minute  and  particular  details, 
because  generalities,  which  in  all  other  cases  are  apt  to  heighten 
and  raise  the  subject,  have  here  a  tendency  to  sink  it.    When  we 
speak  of  the  commerce  with  our  colonies,  fiction  lags  after  truth, 
invention  is  unfruitful,  and  imagination  cold  and  barren. 

BURKE.    Speech  on  Conciliation. 

4.  So  far,  Sir,  as  to  the  importance  of  the  object,  in  view  of  its 
commerce,  as  concerned  in  the  exports  from  England.     If  I  were 
to  detail  the  imports,  I  could  show  how  many  enjoyments  they 
procure  which  deceive  the  burthen  of  life;  how  many  materials 
which  invigorate  the  springs  of  national  industry,  and  extend  and 
animate  every  part  of  our  foreign  and  domestic  commerce.    This 
would  be  a  curious  subject  indeed;  but  I  must  prescribe  bounds  to 
myself  in  a  matter  so  vast  and  various. 

BURKE.    Speech  on  Conciliation. 

5.  These,  Sir,  are  my  reasons  for  not  entertaining  that  high 
opinion  of  untried  force  by  which  many  gentlemen,  for  whose 
sentiments  in  other  particulars  I  have  great  respect,  seem  to  be  so 
greatly  captivated.    But  there  is  still  behind  a  third  consideration 
concerning  this  object  which  serves  to  determine  my  opinion  on 
the  sort  of  policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  in  the  management  of 
America,  even  more  than  its  population  and  its  commerce — I 
mean  its  temper  and  character. 

BURKE.    Speech  on  Conciliation. 


EXPOSITION  247 


TRANSITIONAL  SENTENCES 

1.  So  much,  Sir,  as  to  this  bill;  and  now  let  me  add  a  few  words 
about  those  by  whom  it  has  been  framed  and  introduced. 

2.  In  the  third  place,  certain  industrial  conditions  fall  clearly 
below  the  levels  which  the  public  to-day  sanction. 

3.  What  is  needed  is  action  directly  the  reverse  of  that  thus  pro- 
fusely indicated. 

4.  For  this  work  we  have  an  instrument  at  hand  in  the  science 
of  statistics,  and  what  we  want  to  do  is  to  put  our  wisest  men 
at  work.     .    .    . 

5.  Another  knot  for  the  Great  Analysis  to  untie  would  be  the 
diversity  of  languages. 

6.  In  view  of  this  halting  attitude,  which  may  be  expected  in 
many  of  the  states  where  the  need  of  reform  is  greatest,  Federal 
action  is  necessary. 

7.  Over  against  this  example  of  Democratic  irresponsibility,  let 
me  call  to  your  attention  the  attitude  of  President  Taft  in  dealing 
with  similar  subjects. 

8.  More  than  this,  however,  he  has  done. 

9.  And  the  people  are  beginning  to  be  conscious  of  this  burden. 
They  are  crying  out:  "Let  us  be  done  with  war." 

10.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  in  most  of  these  questions  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Democratic  party  is  just  the  reverse. 

11.  But  we  must  look  more  directly  into  the  contents  of  human 
nature,  and  the  internal  ruin  by  which  they  are  displayed. 

12.  Such  is  also  the  order  of  the  intellectual  system. 

13.  Now,  to  the  end  of  changing  these  conditions,  what  do  we 
propose? 

14.  But  this  makes  us  face  the  other  phase  of  the  constructive 
possibilities  that  lie  within  immigration. 

15.  Next  to  the  opening  of  the  China  trade,  Sir,  the  change  most 
eagerly  demanded  by  the  English  people,  was  that  the  restrictions 
on  the  admission  of  Europeans  to  India  should  be  removed. 

16.  It  was  thus  that  the  reasonable  hope  of  relief  through  the 
election  of  Gen.  Jackson  was  blasted;  but  still  another  remained. 


248  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Even  more  important  in  speech  than  in  writing  is  the 
attainment  of  force  or  EMPHASIS.  Without  this  the  speaker 
fails  to  make  the  most  of  his  material.  He  leaves  a  weak, 
vague  impression,  where  he  might  leave  a  strong,  deep,  last- 
ing one.  Emphasis  consists  in  so  striking  the  attention  that 
it  is  involuntarily  arrested,  and  held. 

Whatever  is  unusual  has  force.  A  sudden  light  or  sound 
takes  the  attention  at  once.  So  the  introduction  of  some- 
thing unexpected,  in  the  form  of  a  description  or  illustra- 
tion, serves  to  impress  the  point  on  the  mind  of  the  hearer. 
But  care  must  be  taken  not  to  carry  this  to  such  a  degree 
that  distraction  results.  A  well-proportioned  talk  has  em- 
phasis, since  it  gives  due  space  to  each  part,  neither  exag- 
gerating the  less  nor  minimizing  the  greater.  The  use  of 
climax,  beginning  with  the  least  important  and  leading  to 
the  most  important,  also  gives  strength.  Sometimes  the 
last  should  be  that  point  on  which,  though  it  is  of  less  value, 
the  speaker,  for  the  sake  of  effect,  wishes  to  lay  most  stress. 
Here  he  must  consider  the  audience. 

Exercise  XV. 

Give  a  short  talk,  of  not  more  than  three  minutes,  telling 
what  one  of  the  persons  mentioned  below,  or  some  other 
suggested  by  the  instructor,  accomplished,  or  what  he  is 
noted  for.  Make  careful  selection  of  material,  and  arrange 
with  regard  to  proportion  and  climax.  Outline  first. 

1.  Marconi.  9.  Andrew  Carnegie. 

2.  The  Wright  brothers.  10.  Madame  Montessori. 

3.  Count  Zeppelin.  11.  Felix  Adler. 

4.  Santos  Dumont.  12.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis. 

5.  Luther  Burbank.  13.  Mme.  Curie. 

6.  George  Westinghouse.  14.  Louis  Pasteur. 

7.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan.  15.  Col.  George  Waring. 

8.  John  D.  Rockefeller.  16.  Lord  Kelvin. 


EXPOSITION  249 

17.  Henry  M.  Stanley.  30.  Ida  Lewis. 

18.  Julia  Ward  Howe.  31.  Florence  Nightingale. 

19.  Eli  Whitney.  32.  Clara  Barton. 

20.  Elias  Howe.  33.  Jane  Addams. 

21.  Admiral  Togo.  34.  Edwin  Booth. 

22.  Admiral  Sigsbee.  35.  Henry  Irving. 

23.  Bessemer.  36.  Mrs.  Siddons. 

24.  Gen.  Leonard  Wood.  37.  Whistler. 

25.  Ben  Lindsey.  38.  John  La  Farge. 

26.  Father  Damien.  39.  Augustus  St.  Gaudens. 

27.  "Father"  Taylor.  40.  John  Sargent. 

28.  Mary  A.  Livennore.  41.  Dr.  Simon  Flexner. 

29.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton.       42.  Dr.  Alexis  Carrel. 

Exercise  XVI. 

A  noted  foreigner  is  visiting  this  country,  or  some  well- 
known  person  is  expected  in  your  town.  Tell  the  class  or 
school  what  you  think  everyone  ought  to  know  about  him. 
Follow  directions  in  Exercise  XV. 

Exercise  XVII. 

Some  prominent  man  or  woman  has  recently  died.  Tell 
the  class  or  the  school  what  you  think  should  be  known 
about  him,  in  order  that  your  hearers  may  understand  his 
place  in  the  world,  and  may  profit  by  his  life.  Observe 
directions  for  Exercise  XV.  See  page  382. 

Note  the  following  tributes  to  Whitelaw  Reid  from  dif- 
ferent points  of  view. 

1.  To-day  the  social  gathering  that  usually  follows  the  Monday 
afternoon  lectures  on  journalism  is  omitted  because  of  the  death 
yesterday  in  London  of  the  Ambassador  of  the  United  States,  White- 
law  Reid,  the  chairman  of  the  advisory  board  of  this  school. 
Nearly  forty  years  ago  Mr.  Reid  delivered  one  of  the  first,  if  not 
the  first,  of  the  addresses  by  a  journalist  of  the  first  rank,  urging 
professional  training  for  the  calling  in  which  he  had  already  won 
high  distinction. 


250  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

From  1875  to  1885  there  were  many  jibes  in  American  newspapers 
against  the  plea.  The  editor  of  the  Tribune  continued  hi  season 
and  out  to  insist  on  a  special  education  for  journalists.  His  own 
career  gave  his  words  authority.  He  entered  journalism  a  young 
college  graduate,  one  of  the  few  before  the  Civil  War  who  sought 
the  newspaper  office  with  this  training.  He  distinguished  himself 
as  a  war  correspondent.  His  dispatch  of  the  battle  of  Pittsburgh 
Landing  over  the  signature  of  "  Agate  "  in  "  The  Cincinnati  Gazette" 
had  an  effect  on  public  opinion  equaled  by  few  dispatches  from  the 
battlefield  during  the  war.  Its  courage  and  accuracy  led  it  to  be 
sought  only  the  other  day  by  Sir  George  Trevelyan  hi  his  work  on 
the  Civil  War,  a  remarkable  example  of  the  value  of  a  journalist's 
work  hau"  a  century  after  the  chronicle. 

After  a  brilliant  career  as  Washington  correspondent  Mr.  Reid 
became  editor  of  The  Tribune,  which  for  over  seventy  years  has 
had  but  two  chief  editors,  an  instance  of  permanence  in  honor  and 
influence  in  a  calling  whose  work  is  too  often  looked  upon  as  transi- 
tory. Like  the  greatest  of  American  journalists,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, Mr.  Reid  represented  the  Republic  in  Paris,  and  he  has  been  the 
representative  of  our  branch  of  the  English  speaking  race  to  the 
other  for  a  longer  time  than  any  man  since  Pinckney  began  that 
illustrious  roll. 

In  this  school  he  has  always  taken  an  interest  borne  of  his  early 
advocacy  of  professional  training  for  journalists.  In  the  thronged 
days  when  he  was  in  this  city  this  fall  he  gave  a  forenoon  to  learn 
in  detail  what  was  being  done  hi  the  school  in  studies,  courses  and 
the  training  of  the  reporter.  He  expressed  the  hope  of  resuming 
his  attention  to  the  work  when  he  returned. 

To  the  national  sorrow  for  the  going  of  an  American  of  high  public 
service  and  the  regret  among  journalists  at  the  end  of  a  noteworthy 
career  in  American  journalism  there  is  added  the  sense  of  loss  in 
this  school  for  his  death. 

Speech  at  School  of  Journalism  by  TALCOTT  WILLIAMS.  Re- 
ported for  the  "New  York  Tribune." 

2.  Before  the  House  proceeds  to  the  orders  of  the  day  I  would  ask 
leave  to  give  brief  expression  to  the  sincere  grief  which  is  shared  by 


EXPOSITION  251 

the  whole  nation  at  the  death  of  the  American  Ambassador,  Mr. 
Whitelaw  Reid. 

The  American  Ambassador  to  this  country  has  a  position  of 
his  own  which  is  independent  of  his  status  and  functions  as  the 
diplomatic  representative  of  an  external  power.  We  regard  him 
as  a  kinsman. 

He  is  also  honored  here  as  a  welcome  guest,  sprung  from  our 
own  race,  speaking  our  own  language,  sharing  with  us  by  birth  as 
well  as  by  inheritance  not  a  few  of  our  most  cherished  traditions, 
and  participating  when  he  comes  here  by  what  I  may  describe  as 
a  natural  right  in  our  domestic  interests  and  celebrations. 

His  office  has  been  held  and  adorned  by  a  long  succession  of 
distinguished  men,  but  I  am  not  using  the  language  of  exaggeration 
when  I  say  that  none  of  them  more  fully  entered  into  its  spirit  and 
maintained  its  special  authority  than  did  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid. 

He  brought  to  the  discharge  of  its  manifold  and  exacting  duties 
the  gathered  experience  of  a  veteran  in  public  affairs,  the  endow- 
ments of  a  mind  of  the  highest  culture,  social  gifts  of  the  most 
genial  and  generous  kind,  keen  sympathy  with  all  the  many  sides 
of  our  British  life,  a  mind  always  open  and  receptive  and  with  the 
warmest  of  hearts. 

We  propose  to  suggest  to  the  American  government  that  one 
of  his  majesty's  battleships  or  cruisers  should  convey  the  body  of 
the  late  Ambassador  to  his  native  land.  I  am  certain  I  am  inter- 
preting the  sentiments  of  the  whole  House  when  I  venture  hi  the 
name  of  the  members  to  offer  to  the  late  Ambassador's  family 
and  to  the  President  and  people  of  the  United  States  our  deep  and 
heartfelt  sympathy  hi  the  loss  of  one  who  was  a  great  American  and 
who  none  the  less  was  at  home  among  us,  and  who  in  a  true  and  real 
sense  was  one  of  us. 

Speech  before  the  House  of  Commons,  by  PREMIER  ASQUITH. 
Reported  for  the  "New  York  Tribune." 

Many  speakers  are  known  as  "long  winded."  They  talk 
so  long,  and  give  so  many  unessential  details,  that  the 
hearers  not  only  become  tired,  but  fail  to  grasp  the  vital 


252  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

content  of  their  remarks.  Therefore,  we  should  try  to  be 
CONCISE,  selecting  the  essential  details,  omitting  unnecessary 
or  confusing  material,  arranging  with  due  regard  for  pro- 
portion and  logical  order,  and  choosing  the  clearest,  most 
suitable  expressions.  Repetition  should  be  avoided  unless 
its  use  will  clear  up  technical  obscurity.  Straightforward, 
crisp,  unadorned  statement  should  be  practiced.  See  page 
84,  rules  for  emphasis,  for  discussion  of  redundancy,  etc. 

Exercise  XVIII. 

Summarize,  for  the  class,  as  briefly  as  possible  with  clear- 
ness and  fairness,  one  of  the  following.  In  preparation, 
make  a  topical  outline  with  main  and  sub-points.  Be  care- 
ful to  keep  the  same  proportion. 

An  editorial  of  about  one  column,  from  a  newspaper  or  magazine, 
on  some  interesting  current  topic. 

An  article  in  a  magazine  on  some  recent  invention  or  social  or 
political  movement. 

A  chapter  from  a  text-book  on  a  subject  which  you  study. 

Some  lecture  you  have  recently  heard. 

Exercise  XIX. 

Following  directions  for  Exercise  XVIII,  summarize  an 
expository  book,  not  involved  or  lengthy,  preferably  on 
some  subject  connected  with  school  work  or  something  in 
which  the  class  is  interested  at  the  time. 

Exercise  XX. 

Summarize  for  the  class  the  proceedings  of  a  recent  busi- 
ness meeting  of  a  school  organization,  or  of  a  meeting  which 
you  attended  as  a  delegate,  or  of  a  public  meeting  of  the 
School  Board  or  some  other  Board. 

In  America  most  of  us  are  entirely  free  in  expressing  our 
opinions,  if  we  have  any,  no  matter  how  unseasonable  and 


EXPOSITION  253 

even  rude  our  frank  statements  may  be.  But  it  is  said  that 
many  of  us  have  no  original  views  to  express,  and  so  merely 
echo  those  of  other  people.  Surely  we  ought  to  have  our 
own  ideas,  even  though  they  be  crude,  and  to  be  willing  to 
make  them  known,  courteously  and  at  the  right  time.  If 
we  never  begin  to  have  independent  opinions,  we  shall  cer- 
tainly never  attain  to  sound  individual  judgment. 

We  are  often  asked  what  we  think  about  certain  books, 
or  persons,  or  lines  of  conduct.  It  is  humiliating  to  be 
obliged  to  say,  "I  really  don't  know,"  or  to  waver  between 
two  opinions.  As  we  grow  older  it  becomes  necessary  to 
decide  on  our  own  course  of  action,  or  on  that  of  other 
persons  under  our  care,  or  to  select  someone  to  fill  a  po- 
sition. In  order  to  do  these  things  well,  we  must  have  the 
habit  of  formulating  for  ourselves  quickly,  decisively,  and 
with  accurate  and  sound  judgment,  our  personal  opinions 
on  books,  on  persons,  on  principles,  and  on  questions  public 
and  political  as  well  as  social  and  moral.  Sometimes,  too, 
it  is  necessary  in  persuading  others  to  our  views,  to  be  able 
to  state  clearly  just  what  we  think  and  how  we  have  been 
led  to  such  judgments. 

Exercise  XXI. 

Read  a  dramatic  criticism,  book  review,  or  a  criticism, 
expository  not  argumentative,  of  some  public  policy,  from 
some  paper  or  magazine  suggested  by  the  instructor.  State 
in  detail  why  you  think  it  a  good  article  of  its  kind. 

Exercise  XXII. 

Outlining  your  points  first,  give  the  class  your  personal 
opinion  of  one  of  the  following.  Be  careful  to  include  such 
phases  in  the  discussion  as  should  be  considered  in  forming 
opinions  about  the  subject.  Observe  proportion  and  a  log- 
ical order.  Be  entirely  frank  in  the  expression  of  your  own 


254  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

liking  or  the  opposite,  giving  the  personal  touch  without 
dogmatism  or  apparent  conceit.  Talk  as  you  would  to 
someone  who  had  asked  what  you  thought  of  the  subject. 
Try  to  have  a  smooth,  natural  beginning  and  ending. 

1.  A  play  you  have  recently  seen.    Is  it  worth  seeing?    Why? 
Does  it  deserve  public  support?    Why? 

2.  A  new  novel. 

3.  A  biography  that  you  have  just  read.     Did  you  find  it  interest- 
ing or  profitable?    Why?    Did  the  author  treat  his  subject  well? 
Was  he  fitted  to  do  so?    etc. 

4.  A  lecturer  you  have  heard. 

5.  A  new  building  in  your  town. 

6.  A  recent  law  or  ordinance. 

7.  A  recent  act  of  some  prominent  man. 

8.  Some  new  movement  or  change  in  your  town. 

Exercise  XXIII. 

Express  your  ideas,  perhaps  in  the  form  of  suggestions 
for  changes,  on  one  of  the  following.  Note  directions  for 
Exercise  XXII,  and  outlines,  pages  40,  41,  77. 

1.  An  ideal  high  school,  or  course  of  study,  in  some  one  subject. 

2.  An  ideal  teacher,  or  pupil. 

3.  The  right  conduct  of  a  student's  organization. 

4.  The  place  of  such  organizations  in  a  school. 

5.  The  kind  of  vacation  you  would  like,  or  some  trip  you  would 
enjoy. 

6.  A  good  housekeeper. 

7.  A  good  farmer,  or  mechanic,  or  lawyer,  or  physician,  or  trades- 
man. 

8.  What  you  think  of  the  popular  form  of  amusement  in  some 
one  place. 

9.  What  you  think  of  the  present  method  of  celebrating  some 
holiday.     (Do  not  make  this  argumentative,  as  a  whole.) 

10.  What  you  think  of  some  present-day  political  practices. 

11.  Your  opinion  of  the  present  position  of  workers  in  some  one 
occupation. 


EXPOSITION  265 

12.  What  you  consider  success. 

13.  What  you  think  about  the  choice  of  a  profession. 

14.  Your  opinion  of  some  local  newspaper. 

15.  The  place  of  athletics,  or  of  secret  societies,  hi  such  a  high 
school  as  yours. 

16.  Why  you  like  the  study  which  is  your  favorite. 

17.  Why  you  do  not  do  well  in  some  study. 

18.  What  you  think  should  be  done  to  improve  the  looks  of  the 
school  building  or  grounds. 

19.  Why  some  boys  leave  school  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  in 
high  school. 

20.  What  could  be  done  to  hold  them. 

21.  What  could  be  done  to  improve  student  government  in  your 
school. 

22.  What  you  think  of  the  system  of  marking  in  your  school,  and 
possible  improvements. 

23.  Your  opinion  of  the  new  rules  in  some  game  played  at  the 
school. 

24.  The  help  that  you  think  could  be  given  the  school 

team  by  the  other  pupils,  or  by  the  Board  of  Education,  or  by  the 
public. 

Exercise  XXIV. 

Make  full  outline  for  a  talk  on  one  of  the  following. 
After  correction,  in  class  or  as  directed  by  the  teacher,  give 
the  talk  in  class,  preferably  without  notes.  Limit  the  sub- 
ject, if  necessary.  See  page  243,  outline  on  gardening; 
page  356,  address  by  Brinkerhoff;  page  366,  address  by 
Jane  Addams. 

1.  The  peace  movement. 

2.  The  "Back  to  the  Farm"  movement. 

3.  The  changes  in  the  great  city  high  schools. 

4.  Vocational  training  in  high  schools. 

5.  Manual  training  in  schools. 

6.  The  teaching  of  agriculture  hi  high  schools. 

7.  The  growth  of  the  arbitration  idea  in  labor  disputes. 


256  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

8.  The  welfare  movement  among  employers. 

9.  Compensation  for  injured  employees. 

10.  The  growth  of  pension  systems. 

11.  The  movement  for  social  betterment. 

12.  The  life  of  the  factory  worker. 

13.  The  life  of  the  department  store  worker. 

14.  Successful  farming  of  the  present. 

15.  Changes  in  farm  conditions  in  the  last  century. 

16.  What  specialized  farming  means. 

17.  What  irrigation  is  doing  for  the  West. 

18.  The  present  high  cost  of  living. 

19.  The  development  of  the  moving  picture  industry. 

20.  The  value  of  moving  pictures. 

21.  What  -        —  college  or  technical  school  means  to  our 
town. 

22.  Our  town  as  a  commercial  or  business  center. 

23.  Our  town  as  a  cultural  center. 

See  pages  317-355  for  other  expository  subjects. 


PROPERTY  OF 
DEPARTMENT  OF  DRAMATIC  ART 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ARGUMENTATION 

NATUBE 

One  of  the  most  useful  forms  of  speech  is  that  employed 
when  we  wish  to  prove  a  statement  that  may  be  disputed, 
or  when,  in  case  of  a  difference  of  opinion,  we  want  to  show 
our  beliefs  or  actions  justified.  Argument  differs  from 
exposition  in  that  it  is  an  attempt  to  show  by  evidence  or 
reasons  that  the  statement,  belief,  or  policy  of  the  speaker 
is  the  right  one  as  opposed  to  another,  whereas  exposition 
states  or  explains  something  about  which  there  is  not  likely 
to  be  dispute.  A  person  may  state  what  his  views  are  on 
some  subject  without  departing  from  the  explanatory  form; 
but  when  he  tries  to  convince  another  that  his  views  are 
right  he  is  using  argument.  A  boy  who  wants  to  go  to 
Harvard  may  tell  his  parents  of  his  wishes;  if  he  sets  forth 
the  advantages  of  that  college,  or  explains  its  curriculum, 
he  is  using  exposition;  but  as  soon  as  he  attempts  to  show 
that  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  go  to  Harvard  than  to 
Yale,  he  argues. 

USE 

We  sometimes  hear  it  said  of  people  that  they  are  "al- 
ways arguing."  Most  of  us  argue  a  great  deal  without 
realizing  that  we  are  doing  so.  The  parent  and  child  talk 
about  a  suggested  excursion,  or  purchase.  The  child  wants 

257 


258  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

to  follow  a  certain  plan,  and  gives  reasons.  The  parent, 
not  wishing  him  to,  gives  reasons  against  his  carrying  it 
out.  Brothers  and  sisters  often  have  lively  discussions 
over  plans  or  views  in  which  they  differ.  School-fellows 
excitedly  give  reasons  for  and  against  certain  courses  of 
action,  in  playing  a  game,  or  in  admitting  a  new  boy  to 
membership  in  a  society.  Acquaintances  and  friends  or 
members  of  a  family  go  over  the  pros  and  cons  about 
going  downtown  to-day  instead  of  to-morrow,  buying  a 
dress  of  this  instead  of  that  color,  the  respective  merits  of 
the  seashore  and  the  mountains  as  a  summer  resort.  All 
are  using  arguments  just  as  much  as  is  the  business  man 
who  tries  to  convince  a  possible  purchaser  that  an  inferior 
article  is  "just  as  good." 

Not  only  do  all  people  use  argument  frequently  in  ordi- 
nary every-day  life,  but  many  use  it  more  formally  in 
public  in  connection  with  organizations  or  professional 
work.  Pupils,  in  class  elections,  often  have  heated  debates. 
Church  meetings  are  not  free  from  them  in  discussions  of 
how  things  are  to  be  managed.  Various  public  boards 
seem,  judging  from  the  newspaper  reports,  to  spend  much 
time  at  their  meetings  in  more  or  less  tempestuous  argu- 
ment. In  courts  of  justice  the  prosecutor  and  the  defending 
lawyer  present  arguments.  Engineers,  scientists,  and  physi- 
cians carefully  formulate  the  proofs  of  their  theories. 
Clergymen  depend  on  able  persuasive  powers  to  win  and 
hold  the  people.  But  those  whose  arguments  we  hear  most 
are  the  politicians  and  statesmen  in  mass  meetings,  at  polit- 
ical conventions,  and  in  the  legislative  bodies. 


Exercise  I. 

Examine  the  following  to  determine  whether  each  is  argu- 


ARGUMENTATION  259 

mentative  or  expository.    Give  reasons  in  support  of  your 
opinion: 

1.  Within  the  last  few  years,  numerous  attempts  have  been  made 
to  reproduce  the  stage  setting  of  the  Elizabethan  period.     In 
Sanders  Theatre  at  Harvard  University,  several  plays  were  given, 
without  scenery,  and  in  a  manner  much  like  that  of  the  sixteenth 
century.    Under  the  auspices  of  the  Emerson  College  of  Oratory, 
Ralph  Roister  Doister  was  given  in   1907,   with  simple  curtains 
well  toward  the  front  of  the  stage,  through  which  actors  passed. 
Pages  indicated  the  changes  of  scenes  by  going  down  through  the 
audience  and  back,  and  again  taking  their  places  at  the  corners. 
Perhaps  the  best  known  of  these  stage  revivals  have  been  those  of 
Ben  Greet  and  his  company.    These  productions,  however,  only 
approximate  the  Elizabethan  manner.    The  most  accurate,  prob- 
ably, have  been  largely  for  the  portrayal  of  stage  history.    An 
excellent  reproduction  of  a  stage  setting  of  an  earlier  period  was 
that  at  the  performance  of  Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay  by  the 
Philolexian  Society  at  Columbia  University.    The  staging  was  based 
on  the  researches  of  Mr.  Victor  Albright.    The  balconies  were  repre- 
sented, there  was  a  curtain  hung  from  the  rear  balcony,  revealing  an 
inner  scene,  and  part  of  the  action  took  place  on  this  rear  balcony. 
The  properties  were  extremely  simple,  and  the  scene  changes,  for  the 
most  part,  only  indicated.    The  New  Theatre,  also,  presented  some 
highly  creditable  productions  of  early  plays,  and  scenes  from  the 
Winter's  Tale.    On  the  whole,  there  has  been  great  interest  in  such 
attempts,  and  some  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  Shaksperean 
plays  should  be  staged  in  the  original  manner. 

2.  The  recent  revivals  of  old  plays  hi  the  manner  of  their  original 
production  has  caused  much  discussion  over  the  advisability  of 
this  method.    Certainly,  from  several  points  of  view,  this  manner 
of  staging  is  desirable.    The  student  is  benefited.    He  can  see 
more  clearly  the  historical  development  of  the  drama,  since  many 
of  our  changes  have  come  about  through  changed  conditions,  such 
as  the  use  of  electric  lights.    He  can  see  just  how  Shakspere  got 
his  effects,  for  there  is  little  to  aid  or  obscure  the  imagination  of 
the  audience.    This  reveals  the  greatness  of  Shakspere's  genius. 


260  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Moreover,  the  student  is  led  to  see  that  Shakspere's  technique, 
marvelous  as  it  was,  is  not  suited  to  stage  conditions  of  our  time. 
The  lover  of  Shakspere  for  his  own  sake  is,  too,  given  what  he 
wants.  He  sees  the  whole  play,  not  mutilated  of  some  of  its  most 
significant  scenes,  such  as  the  one  in  which  Cassius  wins  Casca  to 
the  conspiracy,  not  distorted  for  the  sake  of  using  the  same  scenery 
hi  two  consecutive  scenes.  He  really  gets  the  author's  ideas  with 
the  right  emphasis,  instead  of  having  his  attention  distracted  by 
gorgeous  scenery  at  which  the  matinee  girls  exclaim,  or  the  thunder- 
storm during  a  most  important  conversation  between  Brutus  and 
Cassius.  If  Shakspere  himself  could  be  heard,  perhaps  he  would 
say  it  is  only  fan-  to  him  that  his  play  be  presented  as  he  intended 
it  to  be,  under  the  conditions  for  which  he  wrote.  Only  thus  can 
true  proportion  be  obtained,  and  the  emphasis  kept.  A  Shaksperean 
production  should  be  for  the  sake  of  the  play,  not  to  display  the  art 
of  a  painter,  or  the  craft  of  the  stage  mechanician,  or  the  wealth  of 
the  actor-manager.  Let  us  hope  that  we  shall  have  more  of  Shak- 
spere's work  as  it  was,  not  twentieth  century  adaptations. 

Exercise  II. 

Mention  questions  likely  to  be  argued  by  the  following: 

A  family  about  to  return  to  the  city  at  the  end  of  the  vacation; 
two  boys  on  the  playground;  two  physicians;  several  teachers  of 
your  school;  the  walking  delegate  of  a  labor  union;  the  president  of 
a  railway  company  at  a  directors'  meeting;  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  a 
party  conference;  the  district  attorney  of  your  county;  the  finance 
board  of  your  church;  a  speaker  in  the  next  state  or  city  political 
campaign;  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  worker;  a  Salvation  Army  captain. 

Exercise  HI. 

Mention  four  questions  that  you  would  like  to  debate 
in  class.  Let  the  class  decide  whether  they  are  debatable 
questions,  and  suited  to  the  place,  the  audience,  and  the 
material  and  time  probably  at  your  disposal. 


ARGUMENTATION  261 

EVIDENCE 

In  supporting  either  side  of  an  argument  we  use  evi- 
dence, or  whatever  helps  strengthen  that  side.  There  are 
many  kinds  of  evidence,  among  them  admitted  facts,  per- 
sonal testimony,  circumstantial  evidence  furnished  by  in- 
animate objects,  authority,  and  the  logical  bases  for  cer- 
tain reasoning. 

Facts  may  be  obtained  in  various  ways.  Some  are  com- 
monly known.  The  number  of  registered  pupils  in  - 
school  is  greater  than  the  number  of  the  seats  provided  by 
the  present  accommodations.  Experience  may  be  drawn 
upon  for  facts.  In  certain  schools  where  there  was  over- 
crowding, illness  and  poor  mental  work  resulted.  Examples 
may  be  cited.  Statistics  compiled  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion show  exactly  what  proportion  of  pupils  failed  or  left 
school  in  1910  as  compared  with  the  preceding  year,  and 
also  what  proportion  were  on  "part  time."  The  success 
or  failure  of  an  experiment  must  be  accepted  as  proof.  In 
some  sections  of  New  York  portable  school  buildings  were 
successfully  used. 

In  some  attempts  to  prove  allegation  or  accusations 
personal  testimony  is  given  in  evidence.  Tom  Smith  may 
swear  that  he  saw  John  Jones  remove  a  load  of  coal  from 
the  railway  company's  shed.  But  his  testimony  must  be 
substantiated.  So  another  states  that  John  Jones,  whom 
he  has  known  for  ten  years,  has  the  reputation  of  taking 
what  does  not  belong  to  him.  A  third,  however,  is  certain 
that  John  was  playing  cards  in  a  saloon  ten  miles  away  at 
the  exact  time  when  Tom  says  he  saw  the  coal  taken. 
Thus  an  alibi  is  furnished.  Another  may  have  heard  John 
say  that  the  railway  company  owes  him  a  living,  and  is 
really  a  robber  anyway.  If  someone  saw  John  near  the 


262  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

coal  shed  shortly  before  the  coal  disappeared,  Tom's  tes- 
timony is  strengthened. 

People  have  sometimes  been  convicted  even  of  murder  on 
what  is  called  circumstantial  evidence.  There  is  no  abso- 
lute, direct  proof,  but  circumstances  indicate  that  the  ac- 
cused was  guilty.  The  position  of  the  dead  man  and  of 
the  weapons,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  wound,  indicate 
that  he  could  not  have  killed  himself.  The  pistol  or  axe 
is  known  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  the  accused. 
The  latter  threw  away  some  blood-stained  clothing.  Of 
course,  some  of  this  evidence  may  be  established  by  human 
testimony. 

Authority  has  had  considerable  value  in  recent  cases. 
Experts,  the  people  who  profess  to  be  able  to  identify  hand- 
writing, or  the  testers  of  poisons,  are  called  on  to  testify  in 
great  numbers.  An  expert  accountant  helps  prove  default- 
ing. The  opinion  of  one  versed  in  banking  and  stocks  is 
accepted  in  proof  of  values.  Books,  for  most  of  us,  fur- 
nish many  arguments.  We  are  sure  that  a  thing  is  so  be- 
cause a  text-book  says  so.  People  whom  we  trust  as  careful 
investigators  make  affirmations,  which  we  accept.  More- 
over, we  all  have  our  heroes,  from  Washington,  who 
"never  told  a  lie,"  to  our  fathers,  whom  we  quote  among 
the  other  boys.  If  the  leading  speaker  of  our  political  party 
says  the  tariff  is  a  cause  of  high  prices,  or  our  favorite 
newspaper  blames  the  trusts,  we  believe  either  implicitly, 
and  think  all  who  say  otherwise  demagogs  and  base  de- 
ceivers. 

There  is  one  kind  of  evidence  which  we  reason  out.  We 
are  willing  to  believe  that  a  thing  is  so  because  it  is  proba- 
ble, to  be  expected.  We  are  disinclined  to  believe  that  Bob 
turned  his  other  cheek  to  Charley  when  he  received  a  blow, 
instead  of  hitting  back,  because  it  would  be  contrary  to  boy 


ARGUMENTATION  263 

nature.  If  the  teacher  finds  answers  exactly  alike  on  the 
papers  of  two  who  sat  side  by  side,  when  the  question  re- 
quired individual  thought  instead  of  memory,  she  knows 
there  has  been  cheating,  because  it  is  a  psychological  im- 
possibility for  two  persons  to  express  things  alike  to  that 
extent.  Moreover,  she  can  usually  determine  who  copied 
by  her  knowledge  of  the  mental  habits  and  the  usual  man- 
ner of  expression  of  each.  Like  cases  may  sometimes  help 
one  in  determining  the  truth  of  a  proposition.  If  a  thing 
has  been  done  it  can  be  done  again.  Men's  names  have 
been  forged  so  well  that  it  was  impossible  to  prove  forgery 
from  the  handwriting.  Theories  and  principles  may  also  aid 
in  reasoning,  especially  if  their  truth  has  been  demonstrated 
in  other  instances.  The  economic  principle  of  supply  and 
demand  may  be  used  in  proving  what  the  causes  of  high  cost 
of  living  are.  The  theory  that  men  and  women  are  radically 
different  in  brain  power,  though  not  necessarily  unequal, 
has  been  used  by  many  in  support  of  schools  for  each  sex. 

TESTS  OP  EVIDENCE 

In  spite  of  the  seemingly  formidable  array  of  evidence  to 
be  gathered,  it  is  often  impossible  to  prove  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  even  a  single  listener,  to  say  nothing  of  a  jury  of 
twelve  good  men  and  true,  or  a  large  audience,  the  propo- 
sition or  accusation  in  support  of  which  the  evidence  is 
presented.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  not  all  of  it  is  trust- 
worthy. The  intelligent,  careful  person  applies  tests  to 
every  step,  to  every  phase. 

First,  the  truth  of  a  statement  may  be  questioned.  In 
spite  of  the  proverb  that  figures  never  lie,  they  have  been 
juggled  so  that  they  have  effectually  concealed  or  perverted 
the  truth.  The  illness  of  pupils  or  their  failure  may  have 


264  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

resulted  from  home  conditions  instead  of  from  overcrowd- 
ing. The  success  of  one  undertaking  may  have  been  ex- 
ceptional, and  therefore  not  of  value  as  a  fact  in  support 
of  a  proposition. 

Any  good  lawyer  can  render  valueless  much  of  the  tes- 
timony on  the  other  side.  He  may  be  able  to  prove  that 
the  witness  is  of  known  unreliability.  She  may  have  fits 
of  insanity  or  hysteria,  or  be  commonly  known  as  one  who 
exaggerates.  She  may  even  have  been  convicted  of  per- 
jury at  another  time.  If  he  can  cause  her  to  contradict 
statements  she  has  already  made,  her  testimony  is  greatly 
weakened  in  value.  Is  she  capable  of  understanding  the 
point  at  issue?  Is  she  prejudiced,  because  of  enmity  or 
relationship?  One's  views  are  always  colored,  no  matter 
how  honest  one  may  be.  Moreover,  no  human  memory  is 
infallible.  Three  witnesses,  all  honest  in  purpose,  all  of 
at  least  average  intelligence,  have  been  known  to  tell  widely 
different  stories  of  the  same  happening.  Two  persons  may 
look  so  much  alike  that  even  an  alibi  is  of  no  value.  On 
the  whole,  human  testimony  at  best  is  likely  to  be  far  from 
the  truth. 

The  test  of  probability  may  be  applied  to  some  evidence. 
We  do  not  like  to  accept  the  unfamiliar,  the  unlikely, 
though  truth  may  be  stranger  than  fiction.  Then,  too,  some 
allegations  include  things  later  shown  to  be  impossible, 
in  themselves  or  in  comparison  with  known  facts. 

In  circumstantial  evidence  other  possible  explanations 
should  be  considered.  Did  the  accused  lend  his  pistol,  or 
was  it  stolen  from  him?  Were  the  blood  stains  those  of 
human  blood?  Did  the  dead  man  wish  people  to  think  he 
had  been  killed  instead  of  committing  suicide?  Was  there 
anyone  who  through  ill  will  would  try  to  cast  suspicion  on 
an  innocent  person? 


ARGUMENT  A  TION  265 

Authority  is  of  varying  degrees.  Is  the  so-called  expert 
really  one?  Is  his  opinion  colored  by  anything?  Do  others 
of  his  own  profession  agree  with  him?  What  is  his  pur- 
pose? Is  he  correctly  quoted?  Some  people  assert  things 
that  are  only  rumors.  Politicians  may  be  talking  for  votes. 
Books  may  be  written  by  inaccurate  people,  ignorant  of 
important  principles  or  facts.  We  must,  then,  be  wary  in 
acceptance  of  authority. 

One  of  the  commonest  and  most  tricky  flaws  is  that  of 
introducing,  as  proofs,  points  that  have  no  place  as  such. 
They  are  sometimes  based  on  false  or  illogical  reasoning. 
A  wrong  inference  is  drawn  from  acceptable  premises.  For 
Mr.  Blank  to  say  that  college  will  not  be  of  any  use  to  his 
boy  because  he  was  successful  without  it  does  not  prove 
the  contention.  To  say  that  because  Mr.  Brown  was  not 
at  church  he  must  have  been  in  a  saloon  is  equally  illogical. 
Many,  too,  have  the  habit  of  bringing  in,  to  win  the  popu- 
lar prejudice,  points  that  are  not  pertinent,  that  is,  logi- 
cally related,  to  the  proposition.  To  say  that  a  man  is 
not  a  liar  among  his  friends,  or  that  he  is  fond  of  his  chil- 
dren, does  not  prove  that  he  is  innocent  of  graft.  To  show 
that  workingwomen  do  not  always  have  to  support  other 
members  of  the  family  does  not  prove  that  their  work 
is  not  worth  as  high  wages  as  a  man's. 

Exercise  IV. 

Classify  and  test  each  piece  of  evidence  in  the  following: 

1.  A  young  man  is  on  trial  for  destroying  his  aunt's  last  will. 
Her  lawyer,  an  old  and  trusted  friend,  swears  that  on  May  9,  a 
month  before  the  testator's  death,  he  drew  up  a  will  disinheriting 
the  accused,  and  superseding  a  former  will  in  his  favor,  the  only 
one  now  to  be  found.  The  deceased  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping 
her  private  papers  in  a  desk  in  her  library. 


266  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  accused  was  let  into  the  house,  the  butler  swears,  on  the 
night  of  his  aunt's  death.  Because  of  the  excitement,  little  attention 
was  paid  him,  and  he  was  not  noticed  by  other  servants  who  are 
sworn. 

The  next  week,  when  the  house  was  being  put  in  order,  a  servant 
found  some  charred  paper  in  the  fireplace  in  a  room  little  used, 
where,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  servant,  no  fire  had  been  built  for  a 
long  time.  The  bits  of  paper,  examined  under  a  glass,  prove  to 
be  of  the  same  kind  as  that  used  habitually  by  the  lawyer  who 
drew  the  will.  He  buys  his  paper,  he  says,  from  a  firm  hi  a  city 
two  thousand  miles  away. 

A  cousin  of  the  accused,  the  beneficiary  of  the  missing  will,  swears 
that  the  accused  had  a  large  gambling  debt  just  at  the  time  of  the 
aunt's  death.  He  exhibits  a  letter  from  his  aunt  in  which  she 
mentions  that  the  young  man  has  asked  for  money  a  few  days 
previously.  She  writes  that  she  has  told  him  she  intends  to  dis- 
inherit him  because  of  his  extravagance. 

The  valet  of  the  accused  says  that  the  accused  was  at  his  own 
rooms  in  the  city  the  night  of  the  aunt's  death,  and  that  he  re- 
ceived the  news  next  morning  with  great  surprise  and  sorrow. 

The  housekeeper  swears  that,  when  she  was  called  to  see  the 
charred  paper,  she  noticed  finger  prints  in  the  dust  on  the  mantel, 
and  a  burned  match  of  the  kind  that  the  accused  habitually  used 
when  in  the  house. 

2.  The  question  of  providing  school  nurses  is  being  argued  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  or  the  Finance  Board.  One  member  says 
the  city  never  has  employed  such  nurses  before.  Very  few  cities 
employ  them. 

Another  says  the  teachers  ought  to  look  after  the  health  of  the 
pupils. 

A  third  thinks  the  money  paid  to  the  physician  for  examinations 
is  wasted  unless  a  nurse  follows  up  the  cases.  The  mothers  are 
too  ignorant  to  attend  to  the  children  properly.  Since  a  doctor 
is  hired,  why  not  a  nurse? 

Another  feels  that  parents  of  the  better  class  do  not  want  a  visit- 
ing nurse  telling  them  what  to  do. 


ARGUMENTATION  267 

The  statistics  of  the  Board  of  Health  show  that  there  were  seven 
deaths  from  diphtheria  in  one  school  district  in  four  weeks.  It  is 
argued  that  the  employment  of  a  nurse  would  have  prevented  the 
spread  of  contagion  by  the  early  discovery  of  the  nature  of  the 

disease.    In  — ,  where  only  one  nurse  was  employed,  the 

school  attendance  increased,  the  work  of  the  pupils  improved,  and 
there  were  fewer  deaths  hi  the  district.  The  winter  was  an  ex- 
ceptionally healthful  one  for  both  adults  and  children. 

KINDS  OF  ARGUMENT 

Argument  is  divided  into  three  kinds,  according  to  the 
result  desired.  If  we  are  trying  to  prove  that  Tom  Brown 
stole  Lyman  Black's  horse,  or  that  Rufus  Godwin  is  the 
inventor  of  a  rapid-fire  shotgun,  or  that  William  Dean 
Howells  is  the  writer  of  an  anonymous  novel  running  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  we  are  trying  to  establish  a  fact.  Al- 
though there  are  two  opinions,  there  must  be  some  absolute 
fact  existent,  whether  or  not  it  may  be  laid  bare. 

Another  kind  aims  to  prove  the  truth  of  some  theory  or 
principle  that  has  not  yet  been  generally  accepted,  and 
therefore  needs  various  proofs  that  will  convince  people  of 
its  truth. 

The  third  kind,  the  most  common,  is  that  of  policy.  The 
girl  tries  to  prove  to  her  family  that  it  would  be  more  ad- 
vantageous for  her  to  take  the  course  in  stenography  than 
to  take  the  college  preparatory  course.  The  boy  argues  that 
the  ball  game  with  New  Berne  should  be  held  on  Friday 
instead  of  Saturday.  The  members  of  the  Forum  debate 
on  whether  the  United  States  should  build  two  battleships 
a  year. 


Exercise  V. 


wcise  V. 

Let  six  pupils,  three  on  each  side,  give  good,  clear  reasons 


268  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

for  their  belief  in  regard  to  one  of  the  following.      For  other 
subjects,  see  Exercise  VII,  page  81,  17-20. 

1.  Did  the  Norsemen  discover  America? 

2.  Did  the  Mexican  Indians  have  a  high  civilization? 

3.  Did  members  of  the  union  commit  certain  riotous  acts  at- 
tributed to  them  hi  the  —          —  strike? 

4.  Was  Perkin  Warbeck  the  heir  to  the  British  throne? 

5.  Were  the  doors  locked  at  the  time  of  the  fire  in  the 

factory? 

6.  Were  the  trainmen  responsible  for  the  recent  accident  on 
the Railway? 

7.  Did  Cook  discover  the  North  Pole? 

8.  Is  Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward  the  author  of 

9.  Was  the  Titanic  (or  some  other  ship)  going  at  nearly  full 
speed  when  struck? 

10.  Did  King  Arthur  of  the  Round  Table  really  live? 

11.  Are  moving  pictures  replacing  acted  plays  as  entertainment? 

12.  Are  periodicals  replacing  books  as  general  reading? 

Exercise  VI. 

Hold  a  mock  trial,  civil  or  criminal.  Study  methods  of 
procedure  from  text-books  on  civil  government  and,  if  pos- 
sible, from  attendance  at  court  sessions.  Have  various 
pupils  act  as  judge,  witnesses,  lawyers  for  the  defendant 
and  for  the  State  or  complainant,  and  jury.  Let  the  wit- 
nesses be  examined  and  cross-examined,  and  let  the  lawyers 
sum  up. 

Exercise  VII. 

Let  the  instructor  suggest  some  subject  from  the  litera- 
ture lesson,  on  which  there  may  be  a  difference  of  opinion, 
such  as  the  justification  of  Brutus  in  killing  Caesar,  the 
womanliness  of  Lady  Macbeth,  the  advisability  of  repre- 
senting the  ghost  visibly,  in  Macbeth  or  Julius  Ccesar,  the 
duty  of  Eppie  to  acknowledge  her  father,  etc.  Many  sub- 
jects are  given  in  the  section  on  topics  from  College  En- 
trance Requirements,  pages  322-355.  Let  pupils  speak  in- 


ARGUMENTATION  269 

formally,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  till  all  have 
spoken  who  wish.  Let  the  same  pupil  speak  the  sec- 
ond time  to  answer  arguments  or  to  add  something,  so  long 
as  the  balance  is  kept.  After  all  who  have  anything  to  say 
have  spoken,  two  may  sum  up  the  arguments.  Then  the 
pupils  may  try  to  classify  the  various  points  under  main 
headings. 

PREPARING  THE  BRIEF 

We  often  hear  about  lawyers  working  on  briefs.  The 
term  is  not,  however,  confined  to  the  law.  Everyone  who 
speaks  in  public  with  the  purpose  of  proving  an  assertion 
or  of  convincing  others  in  any  way,  should  master  the  tech- 
nique of  the  brief.  It  is  really  a  synopsis,  in  logical  form, 
of  what  he  wishes  to  say.  The  better  the  brief,  the  better 
the  speech. 

This  skeleton  of  argument  has  many  uses.  It  enables 
the  maker  to  note  his  material,  and  to  sift  the  valuable 
from  the  worthless.  He  may  be  sure  that  the  ground  of 
his  discussion  is  fairly  covered  by  what  he  has  in  hand. 
Then  the  brief  helps  him  to  classify  the  material,  so  that 
it  will  fall  under  the  right  heads,  and  can  be  presented 
clearly.  He  can  compare  the  strength  of  the  various  points, 
test  their  pertinence  as  well  as  their  validity,  and  arrange 
them  in  the  order  most  effective.  Read  pages  31-34,  on 
gathering  material. 

In  order  to  present  arguments  to  convince  our  opponents, 
we  must  have  the  proposition  clearly  in  mind,  and  as  clearly 
formulated.  It  should  be  concrete,  concise,  and  specific. 
It  should  state  the  question  beyond  possibility  of  mistake 
or  evasion.  It  should  be  such  that  either  side,  affirmative 
or  negative,  may  be  taken:  that  is,  the  subject  must  be  a 
debatable  one,  with  opportunity  for  giving  good  support  to 
either  side. 


270  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  VIII. 
Criticise  and  reformulate  the  following: 

1.  Protection  as  a  factor  in  the  high  cost  of  living. 

2.  The  hanging  of  murderers. 

3.  Are  strikers  justified  hi  their  actions? 

4.  Public  schools  versus  private  schools. 

5.  Direct  primaries  should  be  universally  instituted. 

6.  Why  the  franchise  should  not  be  given  to  the  D.  U.  Tele- 
phone Company. 

7.  A  course  hi  technique  should  be  introduced  above  the  sixth 
grade. 

8.  High  schools  and  athletics. 

9.  Woman  suffrage  a  cure  for  political  evils. 

10.  The  plumage  of  birds  should  not  be  allowed  to  decorate 
women's  hats. 

11.  Should  we  have  the  honor  or  the  proctor  system? 

12.  The  best  way  to  elect  senators,  by  popular  vote. 

13.  Publication  of  election  expenses  is  for  the  good  of  the  state. 

In  general,  the  introduction  to  a  formal  argument  is 
expository,  leading  to  proofs.  Long,  formal  arguments 
often  begin  with  a  history  of  the  question.  Some  bill  may 
have  been  brought  up  for  consideration,  in  various  forms, 
at  intervals  for  many  years.  Changing  conditions  may 
have  affected  the  form.  The  time  is  now  ripe  for  action. 
Sometimes  a  simple  statement  of  the  reasons  for  present 
interest  in  the  subject  may  be  made.  This  should  not 
merely  be  that  many  are  interested  in  it,  but  should  be 
specific.  Perhaps  some  improvement  is  needed  in  your 
town.  The  newspapers  are  full  of  the  subject.  People 
are  talking  about  it.  An  election  is  near,  or  a  vote  of  the 
common  council  is  to  be  taken. 

Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  limit  the  subject  in  some 


ARGUMENTATION  271 

way.  For  instance,  if  the  proposition  were  "the  Board  of 
Education  should  furnish  free  breakfast  to  school  children," 
the  speaker  might  limit  it  to  the  children  of  the  poor,  under 
twelve  years  of  age,  enrolled  in  the  public,  not  parochial 
or  settlement,  schools.  Should  the  subject  be  "Immigration 
should  be  restricted,"  he  might  limit  it  to  that  from  Euro- 
pean and  Asiatic  countries,  as  distinguished  from  this  hemi- 
sphere. 

Often  there  are  terms  likely  to  be  used,  which  need  strict 
definition  or  explanation.  If  a  pupil  argues  that  the  honor 
system  should  be  introduced  into  his  school,  he  must  not 
only  state  whether  he  includes  all  forms  of  student  activity, 
or  limits  his  remarks  to  the  conducting  of  examinations ;  he 
must  also  tell  what  he  means  by  "honor  system."  Is  it 
merely  that  there  shall  be  no  instructors  present  during 
examinations,  or  that  students  shall  report  and  try  cases 
of  cheating  or  of  violation  of  the  rules? 

It  often  happens  that  some  phases  of  a  subject  are  not 
debatable  because  certain  facts  have  long  been  accepted, 
or  because  general  experience  has  proved  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  most  people  that  a  certain  point  must  be  granted. 
In  connection  with  the  question,  "should  the  honor  system 
be  adopted  in  our  school,"  both  sides  would  admit  that  a 
system,  to  be  of  value,  must  be  practicable  and  workable. 
Possibly  both  would  admit  that  there  is  cheating  in  most 
schools  that  do  not  have  the  honor  system.  These  points, 
then,  need  not  be  argued. 

The  specific  question,  the  point  or  points  at  issue,  and 
the  side  taken  by  the  speaker  should  then  be  stated.  In 
considering  the  question  of  the  building  of  new  subways, 
is-  the  point  at  issue  whether  they  should  be  built,  or 
whether  the  city,  instead  of  private  capital,  should  build 
them? 


272  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  IX. 

Study  the  following  introductions.  Note  that  they  are 
expository  in  nature,  though  parts  of  arguments.  See  also 
page  375,  Hughes'  reply,  and  page  382. 

1.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  power  under  the  Constitution  to 
appropriate  money  for  the  construction  of  post-roads,  military  and 
other  roads,  and  of  canals,  and  for  the  improvement  of  water- 
ways. 

Mr.  BANKHEAD.  Mr.  President,  the  question  that  I  am  about  to 
discuss  is  not  a  new  one.  The  speedy  delivery  of  the  mails  and 
the  transportation  and  distribution  of  production  have  claimed  the 
attention  of  our  most  enlightened  and  constructive  statesmen  since 
the  organization  of  the  Government.  The  transportation  and 
distribution  of  products  are  of  more  importance  than  production 
itself.  It  is  the  surplus  which  we  sell  that  makes  us  richer,  adds  to 
the  bank  accounts,  and  cancels  the  mortgage.  What  the  producer 
consumes  at  home  adds  nothing  to  our  wealth.  It  is  that  which 
he  sells  and  transports  to  the  market  that  makes  him  rich.  If  the 
cost  of  transportation  to  the  producer  is  equal  to  the  difference  be- 
tween the  cost  of  production  and  the  selling  price  there  is  no  profit. 
Indeed,  he  is  poorer,  because  his  land  is  being  exhausted,  his  team 
and  his  wagon  wearing  out,  the  deposits  of  his  mine  are  being 
removed,  his  timber  is  being  consumed,  and  his  manufacturing 
plant  is  undergoing  wear  and  tear,  all  without  net  results.  In 
all  classes  of  agriculture  and  in  all  lines  of  manufacturing  and 
trade,  economy  of  transportation  is  an  important  item  in  the 
amount  of  profit.  There  are  three  methods  for  the  transportation 
of  commerce — the  railroads,  waterways,  and  the  common  highways 
or  dirt  roads.  I  need  not  discuss  the  first  method.  It  has  been  the 
subject  of  extensive  discussion,  legislation  and  judicial  construction, 
with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  Transportation  by  water  has  been 
liberally  provided  for  by  Congress.  The  dirt  roads,  over  which 
90  per  cent,  of  the  internal  commerce  of  the  country  must  be  moved 
first  or  last,  have  been  sadly  neglected. 

The  time  has  arrived  when  Congress  must  meet  the  great  question 


ARGUMENTATION  273 

of  national  road  improvement  fairly  and  squarely  and  give  it  that 
thoughtful  and  serious  consideration  which  it  deserves. 

"Congressional  Record." 

2.  Mr.  CHAIRMAN:  It  is  somewhat  embarrassing  to  follow  the 
exceedingly  beautiful  tribute  to  the  principles  of  non-partisan 
democracy  and  the  eloquent  and  patriotic  peroration  of  the 
gentleman  from  Tennessee  with  the  discussion  of  a  prosaic  subject. 
And  yet  the  subject  I  propose  to  discuss  has  to  do  with  the  great 
principles  of  democracy.  Those  principles  are  founded  on  the 
recognition  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  men. 

Starting  with  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  free  and 
equal  and  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights, 
we  proceed  to  lay  down  rules  to  govern  the  conduct  of  men,  to  the 
end  that  they  may  be  secure  in  the  enjoyment  of  equality  and  right. 
These  rules  have  to  do,  among  other  things,  with  the  use  and 
enjoyment  of  property. 

One  of  the  rules  laid  down  in  this  country  at  the  beginning  was 
that  men  should  acquire  property  rights  in  real  estate  in  fee  simple, 
that  it  should  begin  at  the  stars  and  end  in  the  center  of  the  earth, 
and  that  when  a  man  had  acquired  the  right  to  landed  property 
that  right  should  be  secure  in  all  respects,  not  to  be  affected  in  any 
way  in  value  except  by  due  process  of  law. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  much  agitation  for  a  departure 
from  our  past  public-land  policy  with  regard  to  titles  in  real  estate, 
and  some  people  have  assumed  that  this  was  a  relatively  unimpor- 
tant and  simple  matter  to  be  settled  by  a  line  or  two  of  law  here  or 
there,  and,  while  from  their  standpoint  its  effect  would  be  beneficial, 
they  seem  never  to  have  realized  the  effect  would  be  very  far-reach- 
ing. Any  such  view  or  opinion  must  necessarily  arise  from  a  lack 
of  investigation  or  consideration  of  the  problems  involved. 

I  do  not  want  to  suggest  here  that  we  of  the  West  are  disturbed 
to  an  unwarranted  degree  touching  our  position  as  citizens  of  the 
Union.  And  yet,  whether  an  American  citizen  lives  hi  New  York 
or  Wyoming,  in  Colorado  or  Massachusetts,  in  Arkansas  or  Vir- 
ginia, he  has  the  right  under  the  Constitution  to  occupy  the  same 
position  in  relation  to  the  Federal  Government  as  the  citizen  of 


274  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

any  other  State.  He  has  the  right  to  demand  that  whatever  may 
be  the  laws  that  affect  the  citizen  in  his  relations  with  his  Govern- 
ment shall  apply  alike  to  all. 

Furthermore  the  newer  States,  having  come  into  the  Union  on 
an  equality  with  their  sister  States,  have  the  right  to  demand  that 
then*  permanent  relations  wi},h  the  Federal  Government  shall  be 
in  all  respects  the  same  as  that  of  the  older  States. 

The  Supreme  Court  held  in  1845,  in  the  case  of  Pollard's  Lessee  v. 
Hagon,  that  the  United  States  had  no  municipal  sovereignty,  juris- 
diction, or  right  of  soil  except  for  temporary  purposes  and  to  execute 
the  trust  which  it  held  for  the  States  and  for  their  people. 

The  permanent  reservation  by  the  Federal  Government  of  a 
portion  of  the  fee  or  title  to  lands  it  disposes  of  creates  a  condition 
affecting  both  the  citizen  of  the  State  and  the  State  itself  in  a  manner 
not  consistent  with  the  trust  by  which  the  Government  holds  public 
lands  and  tending  to  profoundly  affect  both  the  individual  citizen 
and  the  State  in  then-  relations  with  the  Federal  Government  and 
in  a  manner  which  deprives  them  of  that  equality  to  which  the  State 
and  the  individual  is  entitled  under  the  Constitution. 

From  speech  by  REPRESENTATIVE  MONDELL,  Limitation  of  Land 
Titles.  "  Congressional  Record." 

The  main  proposition  is  the  question  to  be  argued. 
There  must  be  two  or  three  strong  positive  reasons  why 
the  proposition  may,  according  to  the  side  taken,  be  proved 
or  confuted.  For  instance,  it  may  be  true  from  the  point 
of  view  of  two  or  three  classes  of  people,  or  for  physical, 
mental  and  moral  reasons,  or  for  social  and  economic 
reasons.  The  statements  that  these  exist  form,  then,  the 
main  headings,  which  must,  in  turn,  be  supported  by  valid 
proofs.  The  main  headings  must  be  general  enough  to 
cover  nearly  all  the  available  material.  If  there  are  unre- 
lated bits  of  proof,  which  in  themselves  add  little  to  the 
argument,  it  is  better  to  leave  them  out  than  to  confuse 
the  classification;  for  the  hearer  must  be  made  to  keep 


ARGUMENTATION  275 

in  mind  the  chief  divisions.  By  careful  statement  the  di- 
visions may  be  made  "mutually  exclusive";  that  is,  they 
will  not  overlap.  The  more  nearly  of  equal  rank  they  are, 
the  easier  it  will  be  to  keep  the  argument  well  balanced, 
and  to  avoid  giving  the  impression  that  parts  of  it  are 
weak,  and  put  in  only  because  no  better  could  be  found. 

Exercise  X. 

Let  each  member  bring  to  class  several  main  points  for 
the  proof  of  some  one  of  the  subjects  given  for  Exercise  XI. 
Let  the  class  discuss  the  points  suggested,  criticizing  for  the 
qualities  mentioned  above. 

Exercise  XL 

Let  two  leaders  appointed  by  the  teacher  pick  their  teams 
for  affirmative  and  negative,  and  assign  to  each  person  some 
one  phase  of  the  subject  for  class  argument. 

1.  Should  the  honor  system  be  introduced  into  our  school? 

2.  Should  boys  be  asked  to  "tell  on"  each  other  in  matters  of 
violation  of  discipline? 

3.  Should  the  Board  of  Education  determine  the  barring  of 
secret  societies  from  the  school? 

4.  Should  one  blackball  debar  a  candidate  from  a  society? 

5.  Should  a  rejected  candidate  for  admission  to  a  school  society 
be  permitted  to  become  again  a  candidate? 

6.  Should  initiations  into  high  school  societies  be  secret? 

7.  Should  books  of  the  present  time  form  part  of  the  English 
course? 

8.  Should  the  class  be  allowed  to  determine  what  book  from  a 
certain  group  of  those  suggested  by  the  College  Entrance  Board 
is  to  be  studied? 

9.  Should  high  school  students  be  allowed  to  select  their  own 
studies? 

10.  Should  all  schools  have  vocational  courses,  such  as  manual 
training,  dressmaking,  stenography? 


276  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

11.  Should  pupils  be  supervised  by  a  teacher  during  study  periods? 

12.  Should  pupils  be  allowed  to  study  together  during  school 
hours? 

13.  Should  moving  pictures  be  used  in  the  school  work? 

14.  Should  a  girls'  team  in  basket-ball  play  by  boys'  rules? 

15.  Should  our  school  have  a  girls'  baseball  (or  track)  team? 

16.  Should  a  French  or  German  or  Debating  Club  be  started  in 
our  school? 

17.  Should  our  school  have  a  new  athletic  field,  or  larger  play- 
ground, or  new  laboratory,  or  new  heating  apparatus,  or  a  larger 
faculty? 

18.  Should  national  holidays  be  celebrated  by  school  exercises, 
with  required  attendance  on  the  holiday  itself? 

19.  Should  the  sciences  have  more  laboratory  work  in  high  school? 

20.  Should  scholarship  standards  be  required  of  candidates  for 
athletic  teams,  or  for  societies? 

21.  Should  the  use  of  "ponies"  be  opposed  by  the  teachers? 

22.  Should  all  pupils  be  required  to  salute  the  flag? 

23.  Should  prizes  be  offered  for  punctuality? 

24.  Should  examinations  be  required  for  entrance  to  high  school 
or  college? 

25.  Should  vacation  schools   (or  night  schools)  be  provided  by 
the  Board  of  Education  in  our  city? 

26.  Should  our  Board  of  Education  provide  public  playgrounds? 

27.  Should  school  buildings  be  used  for  political  (or  religious) 
meetings? 

28.  Should  the  school  buildings  be  used  as  social  centers? 

29.  Is  departmental  instruction  advisable  in  the  7th  and  8th 
grades? 

30.  Should  tune  be  taken  from  that  assigned  for  English  classes 
for  personal  conferences  between  pupils  and  instructors? 

31.  Should  students  be  allowed  school  credit  for  outside  reading 
in  connection  with  assigned  work,  or  for  editing  of  school  papers, 
or  for  participation  in  dramatic  performances? 

32.  Should  students  of  high  schools  hold  public  dramatic  per- 
formances? 


ARGUMENTATION  277 

33.  Should  agriculture  be  taught  in  our  high  school? 

34.  Should  typewriting  and  stenography  be  taught  in  our  high 
school? 


SPECIMEN  BRIEF 

SHOULD   SEPARATE   CLASSES  BE   MAINTAINED 
FOR   DEFECTIVE   CHILDREN? 

Introduction. 

I.  The  request  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Education  for  more 
money  to  carry  on  work  with  defective  children  has  aroused 
much  opposition, 

A.  Some  considering  the  work  outside  of  school  province. 

B.  Some  disapproving  methods  of  present  supervisor. 

II.  By  defective  children  we  mean  those  abnormal, 

A.  In  mind. 

B.  In  body. 

III.  All  admit  that: 

A.  Defectives  exist  in  great  numbers. 

B.  They  have  long  been  neglected. 

IV.  The  question  is:  Should  or  should  not  the  schools  maintain 
separate  classes  for  defective  children? 

Brief  proper. 

I  maintain  that  they  should. 

I.  The  individuals  in  such  classes  are  more  benefited,  for 

A.  They  are  saved  from  discouragement, 

1.  Progressing  with  others  in  class. 

2.  Free  from  reminders  of  abnormal  stupidity. 

B.  They  are  enabled  to  understand  better,  for 

1.  The  work  is  slower. 

a.  Adapted  to  abnormal. 

2.  Work  more  thorough. 

a.  Minor   points   explained,    unnecessary   to 
brighter  students. 


278  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

C.  Some  defects  may  be  remedied,  for 

1.  Special  study  is  made  of  individuals, 

a.  For  classification. 

b.  After  segregation. 

II.  The  school  work  in  normal  classes  is  more  efficient,  for 

A.  Such  classes  progress  faster,  for 

1.  Rate  that  of  normal  average. 

2.  Less  tune  wasted, 

a.  In  answering  foolish  questions. 

b.  In  repeating  clear  explanations  for  the  slow. 

B.  Average  of  promotions  is  higher,  for 

1.  Each  grade  gets  the  preparation  most  generally 
needed. 

a.  More  equal  intelligence. 

C.  The  teachers'  work  is  more  efficient,  for 

1.  Less  time  spent  in  explanation  of  obvious  points. 

2.  More  helpful  outside  material  given,  in  connection 
with  required  work. 

3.  Less  tune  and  energy  used  for  discipline. 

III.  The  argument  that  the  state  should  care  for  defectives,  in 
institutions,  is  not  valid,  for 

A.  Most  defectives  are  not  so  extreme  as  to  warrant,  under 
present  public  opinion,  commitment. 

B.  Most  of  them  cannot  be  placed  in  such  institutions,  for 

1.  Parents  object. 

2.  It  cannot  be  legally  forced. 

3.  The  state  has  not  sufficient  accommodations. 

C.  The  public  should  not  be  forced  to  support  as  well  as 
educate  all  these  children,  for 

1.  Such  expenses  are  already  enormous. 

2.  Most  parents  are  able  to  support  the  children. 

IV.  Such  classes  are  a  safeguard  to  the  community,  for 

A.  Children  easily  led  astray  are  kept  off  the  street. 

B.  Many  once  considered  hopeless  are  saved  to  useful  lives, 

1.  Their  sluggish  brains  awakened. 

2.  Slight  physical  defects  removed  or  overcome. 


ARGUMENTATION  279 

C.  The   general   level   of   intelligence   and   education   is 
raised,  for 

1.  Some  who  would  remain  illiterate  receive  fair 
schooling. 

Conclusion. 

Since  I  have  shown  that  classes  for  defective  children  are  a  help 
to  those  children,  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  schools,  and  benefit 
the  community,  and  since  I  have  refuted  the  argument  that  they 
should  be  left  to  the  state,  I  maintain  that  such  classes  should 
be  provided. 

Although  the  larger  divisions  are  most  important  for 
clearness,  the  subordinate  ones  are  more  so  for  the  proof. 
For  on  them  rests  the  value  of  the  assertions  made  in  the 
main  headings.  These  subheadings  must,  then,  help  to 
prove  the  assertions  under  which  they  are  used.  If  they 
do  not,  they  are  out  of  place,  really  proving  some  other 
main  heading,  or  they  are  entirely  irrelevant,  or  are  value- 
less anywhere  as  proof,  because  illogical  or  poor  evidence. 
The  stronger  these  sub-points  the  better.  Sometimes  the 
evidence  is  good,  and  forms  one  of  the  proofs  of  the  main 
proposition,  but  is  used  in  the  inverse  relation;  that  is,  the 
debater  has  tried  to  use  the  more  general  statement  of 
evidence  as  a  proof  of  the  more  definite.  If  a  boy  says, 
"My  book  is  not  in  my  desk,  therefore  someone  has  taken 
it,"  he  is  inverting  the  logical  order  of  proof.  If  he  says, 
"Someone  has  taken  my  book,  for  it  is  not  in  my  desk,"  he 
is  giving  what  he  considers  the  proof  of  his  assertion.  He 
may  state  as  additional  support  the  fact  that  he  knows  he 
put  it  there  an  hour  before.  It  may  be  necessary,  how- 
ever, to  prove  that  he  did.  He  may,  then,  say,  "I  know  I 
put  it  there  at  that  time,  because  I  removed  from  it  some 
papers  I  needed  in  the  class  this  last  hour."  You  will 
readily  see  that,  though  his  knowledge  that  he  put  it  there 


280  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

does  not  help  prove  that  it  is  not  now  there,  it  does,  along 
with  the  fact  that  it  is  not  now  there,  help  prove  that  some- 
one has  taken  it. 

Someone  has  taken  my  book,  for 
It  is  not  now  in  my  desk. 
I  know  I  put  it  there  an  hour  ago,  for 
I  then  removed  from  it,  as  I  slipped  it  in,  some 
papers  needed  for  the  class  of  the  past  hour. 

It  is  necessary,  then,  not  only  to  give  as  many  supports 
as  possible  to  the  assertion  of  each  main  point,  but  to  carry 
the  proof  of  each  as  far  down  as  may  be  required  to  re- 
move all  doubt  as  to  the  basis  for  it.  A  mistake  to  be 
avoided  is  the  confusion  of  the  reason  for  an  asserted  con- 
dition being  such,  with  the  proof  that  it  is  so.  A  number 
of  students,  trying  to  prove  that  current  periodicals  are 
now  read  more  than  are  novels,  gave  excellent  reasons  why 
many  people  prefer  them,  but  not  one  proof,  through  state- 
ments as  to  sales,  demand  at  libraries,  the  turning  of  au- 
thors to  short-story  writing,  to  prove  the  assertion  made. 
Sometimes  a  fault  lies  merely  in  the  form  of  a  statement, 
so  that  what  is  really  good  and  valid  proof  does  not  appear 
so.  Reasoning  and  expression  must  alike  be  made  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  the  debater. 

Exercise  XII. 

Let  each  student  formulate  a  brief  on  one  of  the  proposi- 
tions that  follow,  having  an  introduction,  two  or  three  posi- 
tive headings  and  as  many  sub-points  as  are  necessary. 
Examine  the  briefs  on  pages  277,  282-287.  It  is  desirable- 
that  both  sides  of  each  question  be  represented  in  the  clas?. 

Many  local  topics  of  current  interest  will  occur  to  pupil.-. 

Let  the  members  of  the  class  criticize  form  and  logic,  and 
test  evidence,  freely. 


ARGUMENTATION  281 

1.  The  city  (or  village)  should  own  its  waterworks. 

2.  The  city  should  have  garbage  cared  for  by  its  departments  (as 
an  alternative  to  letting  the  contract  to  a  company). 

3.  The  people  of  the  whole  city  (instead  of  those  owning  prop- 
erty on  certain  streets)  should  pay  for  new  paving. 

4.  The  people  of  the  whole  city  should  be  taxed  for  new  water 
and  sewage  pipe  extension. 

5.  The  city  appointive  offices  should  all  be  under  civil  service  rules. 

6.  The  city  (or  village)  should  regulate  all  industries  within  its 
borders. 

7.  The  city  (or  village)  should  regulate  noise. 

8.  The  city  should  regulate  height   (as  well  as  material,  etc.)  of 
new  buildings. 

9.  The  city  should  set  apart  certain  streets  to  be  free  from  all 
but  light  traffic. 

10.  The  city  (or  village)  should  limit  the  water  used  by  house 
dwellers,  by  meters  (or  some  other  method). 

11.  The  city  should  regulate  amusements. 

12.  The  Board  of  Health  should  be  paid. 

13.  The  Board  of  Education  should  be  paid. 

14.  Women  should  be  appointed  as  members  of  the  School  Board. 

15.  Firemen  should  be  paid. 

16.  The  city  should  limit  the  price  of  gas  or  electricity  furnished 
by  private  corporations. 

17.  The  city  should  be  paid  for  street  railway  and  other  franchises. 

18.  The  city  should  regulate  the  giving  of  free  car  transfers. 

19.  The  city  (as  distinguished  from  private  capital)  should  build 
new  transportation  lines  when  needed. 

20.  The  city  (or  village)  should  forbid  peddling  without  license. 

21.  The  city  should  establish  and  maintain  free  public  hospitals. 

22.  This  city  (or  village)  should  purchase  the  -  -  site  for 
a  park. 

23.  This  city  (or  village)  should  accept  the  offer  of for 

a  library  (or  other  public  building). 

24.  The  city  should  condemn,  as  unsafe,  the  bridge  at 
(or  any  other  dangerous  structure). 


282  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

25.  The  city  (or  village)  should  open  a  street  at  -         — . 

26.  The  city  (or  village)  should  provide  free  band  (or  other)  con- 
certs. 

27.  The  city  (or  village)  should  establish  and  maintain  a  public 
lecture  course  (or  museum). 

28.  The  city  (or  village)  should  bear  the  expense  of  abolishing 
the  grade  crossing  at . 

29.  The  city  (or  village)  should  grant  the  franchise  asked  by . 

30.  The  Common  Council  should  pass  an  ordinance  forbidding 
coasting  on  certain  streets  (or  any  other  dangerous  or  annoying 
practice). 

31.  The  city  (or  village)  should  provide  for  a  new  school  building 
at  . 

32.  An  investigation  of  the  water  supply  (or  milk  supply,  or  any 
other  possible  menace)  should  be  made  by  the  city. 

33.  The  city  (or  village)  should  accept  the  proffered  aid  of 

organization  in . 

SPECIMEN  BRIEFS 
SHOULD  THE  CITY  FURNISH  WORK  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED? 

Introduction. 

I.  In  a  great  city  like  New  York  one  is  appalled  by  the  large 
number  of  people  one  sees  who  are  evidently  in  need  of  employ- 
ment. 

II.  In  our  discussion  we  shall  consider  only  those  who  have  no 
opportunity  nor  prospect  of  obtaining  work. 

III.  Everyone  admits  that: 

A.  Owing  to  large  immigration  and  other  causes,  the  supply 
of  workingmen  is  larger  than  the  demand. 

B.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  city  to  provide  so  far  as  possible 
for  the  welfare  of  those  who  make  it  up. 

IV.  The  question  is  then  resolved  to:  Will  the  city  be  doing  the 
people  the  greatest  service  hi  furnishing  work  for  the  unem- 
ployed? 


ARGUMENTATION  283 

Brief  proper. 
I  maintain  that  the  city  will  be  doing  the  people  the  greatest 

service  in  furnishing  work  for  the  unemployed. 
I.  The  city  will  benefit  the  employed  in  protecting  them  from  the 

disadvantages  which  result  from  the  existence  of  a  large  body 

of  unemployed,  for 

A.  The  unemployed  who  beg  are  a  nuisance,  for 

1.  It  is  often  a  trouble  to  stop  to  get  out  money  for 
them. 

2.  They  often  importune  hi  annoying  fashion,  for 

a.  If  one  gives,  they  accost  again. 

b.  If  one  does  not  give,  they  persist. 

3.  One  often  feels  it  undesirable  to  give  to  beggars,  for 

a.  One  is  encouraging  laziness  and  depend- 
ence, for 

(1)  It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  these 
beggars  are  really  needy  or  worthy. 

B.  The  unemployed  are  a  menace,  for 

1.  They  are  often  driven  to  steal, 

a.  In  desperation. 

b.  To  obtain  food  for  their  families. 

2.  They  are  even  driven  to  injuring  others,  for 

a.  They  may  do  this  in  attempt  to  steal. 

b.  They  may  be  incited  to  revenge 

(1)  Against  one  who  refuses  employ- 
ment. 

(2)  Against  a  successful  competitor. 
G.  The  unemployed  are  a  disadvantage  in  the  business 

world,  for 

1.  They  cheapen  labor,  for 

a.  They  offer  to  work  for  less  than  a  just  wage. 

(1)  To  obtain  a  chance  of  life. 

b.  Employers  refuse  raise  of  wages, 

(1)  Knowing  they  can  fill  places  cheaply 

(2)  Knowing  employees  will  not  risk 
being   in  competition  with  many 
unemployed. 


284  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

II.  The  city  owes  work  to  the  unemployed,  for 

A.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  city  to  provide  for  everything 
beneficial  to  its  large  lower  classes,  for 

1.  The  city  is  the  father  of  its  people, 

a.  As  protector. 

b.  As  controller  of  acts. 

c.  As  provider  of  common  necessaries. 

B.  The  city  can  best  help  the  unemployed  by  giving  them 
work,  for 

1.  It  benefits  them  directly,  for 

a.  It  benefits  those  who  want  to  work, 

(1)  Giving  opportunity  to  earn  honest 
livelihood. 

(2)  Preserving   their    self-respect   and 
independence. 

b.  It  really  benefits  those  who  do  not  want  to 

work,  for 

(1)  They  will  be  forced  to  a  right  meth- 
od of  obtaining  a  living,  for 

(a)  They  can  no  longer  get  money 
by  begging,  for 
1.  People  will  know  they 
are  unwilliug  to  work. 

2.  It  benefits  then*  children,  for 

a.  It  benefits  them  physically,  for 

(1)  They  can  then  be  well  fed. 

b.  It  benefits  them  mentally,  for 

(1)  Then-  parents  can  give  them  a  better 
education. 

(a)  Not  needing  services  at  work. 

(b)  Having  money  for  clothes,  etc . 

c.  It  benefits  them  morally,  for 

(1)  The  child  whose  father  is  unem- 
ployed is  not  furnished  a  good  exam- 
ple or  brought  up  in  a  wholesome  at- 
mosphere. 


ARGUMENTATION  285 

III.  My  opponent's  argument  that  this  providing  of  work  would 
be  too  great  an  expense  to  the  city  is  not  valid,  for 

A.  The  unemployed  are  a  great  expense  as  it  is,  for 

1.  Many  of  them  are  supported  in  public  institu- 
tions or  by  some  form  of  public  charity. 

2.  Many  of  them  have  to  be  cared  for  in  hospitals 
or  asylums. 

3.  Many  are  kept  hi  prisons, 

a.  Often  arrested  for  vagrancy. 

b.  Often  arrested  for  crimes  caused  by  manner 
of  life. 

B.  At  least,  hi  providing  work  for  them,  the  city  would  be 
getting  some  return  for  its  money,  for 

1.  They  could  be  employed  on  public  works. 

Conclusion. 

Since  I  have  shown  that  the  f urnishing  of  work  for  the  unemployed 
by  the  city  would  be  of  advantage  to  the  employed  and  to  the 
unemployed,  and  have  disproved  the  argument  of  too  great  expense, 
the  city  should  furnish  work  for  the  unemployed. — Student's  brief. 


Is  THE  BARGAIN  SALE  A  REAL  BENEFIT  TO  THE  MERCHANT? 

I.  The  frequent  advertisements  of  bargain  sales  make  one  wonder 

whether  they  are  of  real  value  to  the  merchant. 

II.  By  a  bargain  sale  we  understand  a  sale  hi  a  store  where 
goods  are  offered  at  less,  supposedly,  than  usual  rates. 

III.  Everyone  admits  that: 

A.  A  merchant  prefers  to  sell  all  his  stock  at  rather  low 
price  than  part  of  it  at  a  higher  one. 

B.  A  merchant  desires  to  get  rid  of  his  stock  as  quickly  as 
possible. 

IV.  The  question  is  then  resolved  to:  Is  the  bargain  sale  of  the 
greatest  benefit,  immediately  and  ultimately,  to  the  mer- 
chant hi  carrying  on  the  business  of  his  store? 


286  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Brief  Proper. 

I  maintain  that  the  bargain  sale  is  not  of  real  benefit  to  the 
merchant,  for 

1.  The  bargain  sale  is  not  beneficial  financially,  for 

A.  In  order  to  make  the  sale  successful,  goods  must  be 
offered  at  a  rate  too  low  for  profit,  for 

1.  Otherwise  they  would  not  draw  people,  for 

a.  Bargain    hunters    want    "something    for 
nothing." 

B.  In  such  sales,  the  stock  is  often  considerably  damaged, 
for 

1.  The  bargain  articles  are  often  rendered  unsalable 
afterward,  for 

a.  They  are  crushed  and  soiled  by  much  hand- 
ling, for 

(1)  They  must  be  where  the  people  can 
get  at  them 

(a)  for  free  examination. 

(b)  for  saving  of  saleswoman's 
time  in  waiting  on  crowds. 

2.  Other  articles  are  injured,  for 

a.  They  are  roughly  handled,  for 

(1)  The  typical  bargain  hunter  cares 
for  nothing  but  her  own  interests. 

(2)  She  often  forgets  both  her  manners 
and  self-control  while  on  a  shopping 
expedition. 

(3)  She    demands    to    see    everything 
possible. 

n.  The  belief  that  bargain  sales  lead  the  people  drawn  there  by 
them  to  other  purchases  is  unfounded,  for 
A.  The  confirmed  bargain  hunter  will  not  buy  largely  un- 
less apparent  special  inducements  are  offered,  for 

1.  She  thinks  she  is  practicing  economy  in  this. 

2.  She  flatters  herself  that  she  is  very  acute  hi 
tracing  bargains. 


ARGUMENTATION  287 

B.  The  bargain  customer  never  becomes  a  steady  patron 
of  the  store,  for 

1.  She  is  guided  in  her  buying  by  the  newspapers. 

2.  She  cares  more  for  specials  than  for  the  steady 
effort  of  a  store  to  give  satisfaction. 

III.  The  custom  of  having  bargain  sales  lowers  the  standing  of 
a  store,  for 

A.  The  best  class  of  customers  avoid  it,  for 

1.  They  do  not  want  cheap,  soiled  goods. 

2.  They  do  not  readily  believe  in  "bargains," 

a.  Thinking  that  the  goods  are  old. 

b.  Thinking  that  the  so-called  reductions  are 
often  false. 

3.  They  do  not  like  the  conditions  of  such  sales: 

a.  Crowds. 

b.  Long  waits. 

B.  Such  sales  bring  about  a  reputation  that  is  undesirable, 
for 

1.  Stores  having  these  sales  frequently  soon  become 
known  as  "cheap  stores." 

2.  They  are  known  as  places  frequented  by  an 
undesirable  class  of  the  public. 

3.  They  are  known  by  their  poorest  stock,  instead 
of  by  their  average  stock. 

4.  They  are  known  for  poor  service  under  bad  con- 
ditions, instead  of  good  service  under  average 
conditions. 

Conclusion. 

I.  Since  the  bargain  sale  is  not  of  financial  benefit,  since  the 
argument  that  it  draws  custom  for  other  goods  is  unfounded, 
and  since  it  lowers  the  standing  of  the  store,  I  conclude  that 
it  is  not  of  real  benefit  to  the  merchant. 

II.  The  comfort  of  many  would  be  increased  by  its  abolition, 

A.  That  of  the  saleswomen. 

B.  That  of  the  general  shopping  public. — Student's  brief. 


288  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

It  will  seem  to  the  pupils  who  have  formulated  briefs 
on  either  side  of  any  of  the  propositions  suggested  above 
that  their  opponents  have  some  weak  point,  either  as  a 
main  heading  or  a  subordinate  one.  They  should  then 
try  to  refute  that  weak  point,  to  strengthen  their  own  side. 
Refutation  can  be  successfully  employed  only  when  a  de- 
bater knows  what  his  opponents  have  tried  to  prove. 
Therefore,  if  he  has  been  wise,  he  has  studied  the  other  side 
of  the  question  as  thoroughly  as  his  own,  to  know  just 
what  his  opponent  has  as  material  for  proof  of  any  possible 
point.  Then,  when  he  hears  the  argument,  he  is  ready  to 
demolish  it. 

Perhaps  some  assertion  made  in  proof  may  have  to  do 
with  something  either  irrelevant  to  the  question  at  issue  or 
of  little  value  in  comparison  with  some  fact  on  the  other 
side.  Perhaps  it  is  illogical  or  unreasonable.  If  an  argu- 
ment from  analogy ,  the  analogy  may  be  a  false  one  when 
examined  carefully.  The  instance  cited  may  be  an  ex- 
treme or  isolated  one,  of  no  value  in  any  other  case.  The 
theory  used  in  support  of  some  point  may  not  be  applica- 
ble to  this  case.  The  statements  quoted  may  be  preju- 
diced, or  one-sided,  or  from  unreliable  authority.  Any  one 
of  these  flaws  will,  when  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
hearers,  weaken  the  force  of  the  argument  as  a  whole,  and 
thereby  strengthen  the  side  attacking  it. 

Do  not  try  to  attack  the  entire  argument.  You  are  really 
doing  that  by  the  statement  of  the  side  you  have  taken. 
Select  the  strongest  one  of  the  opponent's  points  that  can 
be  successfully  demolished,  and  overthrow  that.  In  a  long 
argument  two  points  may  be  refuted. 


ARGUMENTATION  289 


EXAMPLES  OF  REFUTATION 

1.  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fundamental  error  that  under- 
lies the  argument  of  our  distinguished  justice  from  Washington 
and  of  the  distinguished  dean  from  the  Law  School  at  New  Haven. 
Their  fundamental  error  is  that  they  are  drawing  analogy  between 
the  government,  state  and  national,  and  the  government  of  our 
Church.  A  partial  error  in  that  analogy  has  already  been  pointed 
out,  the  error  cited  by  Dr.  Buckley,  when  he  said  that  the  General 
Conference  has  supreme  powers  except  where  checked  by  restrictive 
rules  and  the  national  government  has  only  such  powers  as  are 
specifically  granted  unto  it.  But  the  failure  of  the  analogy  goes 
deeper  than  that.  The  reason  for  the  very  careful  and  excessively 
minute  guarding  of  individual  rights  in  the  state  is  this,  that  in  the 
hands  of  the  state  is  placed  the  sword  of  force.  You  hold  your 
life,  you  hold  your  liberty,  you  hold  your  property  at  the  disposal 
of  the  political  power  in  the  state  or  nation.  You  do  not  hold 
life,  or  liberty,  or  property  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church.  And 
because  the  Church  is  differently  constituted  and  proceeds  upon  a 
different  basis,  it  holds  no  sword  of  force.  Every  member  in  the 
Church  is  there  by  voluntary  accession;  he  comes  of  his  own  choice. 
If  he  should  unfortunately  be  even  expelled  from  the  Church,  it 
is  not  like  that  unfortunate  expulsion  which  is  provided  by  a  crim- 
inal court,  that  sends  a  man  out  from  the  control  of  political  power 
into  eternity.  The  worst  we  could  do  would  be  to  send  him  into 
a  Presbyterian  or  Baptist  or  some  other  church.  The  distinction 
is  a  vital  one.  It  runs  through  the  whole  construction  of  our 
governmental  policy.  Our  appeal  is  to  persuasion;  it  is  to  the 
Gospel.  It  is,  as  the  gentleman  from  Baltimore  said,  to  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  for  that  reason,  sir,  there  is  a  wide 
and  deep  and  valid  distinction  between  the  procedure  in  the  two 
cases.  Arguments  drawn  from  that  analogy,  then,  fall  to  the 
ground  because  there  is  not  the  same  requirement  for  that  protection 
of  individual  rights. 

From  speech  by  E.  J.  KULP,  in  General  Conference  of  M.  E. 
Church,  1912.  "Christian  Advocate." 


290  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

2.  Much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  dependence  of  the  Bishops 
on  "second-hand  information"  in  the  making  of  appointments. 
But  how  many  more  removes  from  personal  knowledge  will  be 
that  information  upon  which  a  large  majority  of  the  General 
Conference  must  cast  their  votes  for  Bishops?    Are  not  all  men, 
indeed,  dependent  on  second-hand  information  for  almost  every 
decision  of  life?    How  little  personal  knowledge  of  men  enters  into 
governmental  appointments.    Think  of  our  judges  scouring  the 
country  in  order  to  secure  personal  knowledge  of  men  or  causes 
involved   in   litigation.    Discredit  second-hand   information,  and 
we  close  our  schools,  bar  all  text-books  of  science,  silence  music, 
arrest  all  business,  disqualify  all  the  professions,  dispense  with  all 
newspapers,  destroy  the  value  of  history,  invalidate  the  appeal 
based  upon  religious  testimony — in  short,  banish  all  facts  not 
personally  witnessed  and  verified,  and  jar  the  very  planets  off  the 
map  of  the  heavens!    What  chaos  would  reign  if  suddenly  all 
second-hand,  or  even  twentieth-hand,  information  were  discredited, 
and  every  man  and  woman  should  perforce  become  an  original 
investigator!    Think  of  it,  you  pilgrims  who  cannot  get  out  of 
this  city  without  second-hand  information.    For  the  purpose  of 
adjusting  appointments  we  regard  the  information  given  by  a 
district  superintendent  personally  and  officially  responsible  for 
his  observations,  and  offered  in  the  presence  of  his  colleagues  and 
within  call  of  the  preachers  and  churches  represented,  as  far  more 
reliable  than  that  otherwise  possessed. 

From  speech  in  General  Conference  of   M.  E.  Church,  1912. 
"Christian  Advocate." 

3.  Some  think  it  is  a  vast  scheme.    Why,  it  is  not  vast  at  all. 
It  would  be  just  as  easy  to  do  it  that  way  as  to  do  it  in  the  poor- 
house  and  in  the  other  way.    The  tax  on  the  production  of  the 
world  would  do  that  very  thing — pay  everybody  who  loses  a  finger 
or  an  arm  or  a  leg,  those  who  get  sick,  those  who  get  too  old  to 
work  any  longer.    The  tax  that  would  take  care  of  these  people 
without  any  lawsuits  or  contentions  or  trouble  would  be  a  very  small 
tax,  after  all,  on  the  great  body  of  goods  produced  in  this  country. 

From  speech  by  Mayor  WILLIAM  J.  GAYNOR  advocating  govern- 
ment support  of  all  charities. 


ARGUMENTATION  291 

4.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  this  commit- 
tee to  one  or  two  pregnant  facts.  As  I  was  proceeding  to  point  out 
when  my  tune  expired,  it  is  claimed  in  the  report  of  the  committee 
accompanying  this  bill  that  there  are  schools  located  on  the  Indian 
reservations  and  supported  by  the  Government  at  which  the  Indian 
children  can  be  taught  all  the  branches  which  are  taught  at  Hamp- 
ton, and  much  cheaper.  Stress  is  laid  in  this  report  on  the  fact  that 
the  distance  to  be  traveled  by  the  Indian  children  from  the  reserva- 
tion to  Hampton  is  very  great  and  therefore  entails  considerable 
cost  to  the  Government.  I  am  informed,  and  I  believe  the  state- 
ment cannot  be  questioned,  that  the  normal  courses  at  one  time 
taught  at  the  reservation  schools  are  no  longer  taught  there,  and  that 
it  is  not  now  pretended  in  any  quarter  that  the  Indian  students  at 
the  reservation  schools  are  trained  in  the  art  of  teaching.  There 
is  not,  I  am  told,  a  reservation  school  which  attempts  even  to  fit 
its  scholars  for  teaching.  So  much,  then,  for  the  claim  that  the 
reservation  schools  are  equipped  to  take  the  place  of  the  Hampton 
school.  Indeed,  Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  no  school  in  the  United 
States  which  has  the  same  appliances  and  which  can  afford  the 
same  facilities  for  giving  Indian  children  normal,  industrial,  and 
agricultural  education.  This  much  must  be  conceded,  I  think. 
No  less  a  distinguished  educator  than  Dr.  Eliot,  late  president  of 
the  great  University  of  Harvard,  is  upon  record  as  saying  that 
there  was  no  school,  no  university  in  America  which  presented  the 
same  or  an  equal  combination  of  academic  and  industrial  teaching 
as  Hampton,  and  Dr.  Gilman,  president  of  the  great  University 
of  Johns  Hopkins,  has  declared  that  we  could  better  spare  any 
two  universities  in  the  United  States  than  the  Hampton  Institute, 
and  Gov.  Woodrow  Wilson,  when  president  of  Princeton  University, 
indorsed  the  Hampton  school  hi  terms  of  commendation  and  praise 
scarcely  less  strong.  I  think,  therefore,  we  may  dismiss  the  proposi- 
tion that  there  is  any  other  school  in  the  country  possessing  equal 
facilities  with  those  of  the  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural 
Institute,  where  the  Indian  student  can  receive  the  training  of 
which  he  stands  in  the  greatest  need. 

From  speech  by  REPRESENTATIVE  JONES  on  Indian  Appropriation 
Bill.  "  Congressional  Record." 


292  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

5.  Again  it  is  urged  that  the  parcel  post  will  drive  the  exclusively 
country  merchant  out  of  business — the  merchant  who  trades  in 
the  small  villages.  I  cannot  see  that  this  will  happen;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  I  believe  it  will  help  him.  To-day  he  handles  a  small 
stock  and  his  customers  are  confined  to  the  residents  of  his  imme- 
diate vicinity.  His  stock  is  not  necessarily  large.  There  is  no  need 
that  it  should  be  big,  consequently  he  makes  a  small  profit  and  is 
satisfied.  But  institute  the  parcel  post  on  his  rural  route,  and,  with 
the  telephone,  watch  his  business  increase.  The  trade  he  enjoyed 
before  will  not  leave  him.  His  old  customers  will  remain  and  trade 
with  him  just  as  they  did  before,  and  in  addition  will  bring  to  him 
their  produce,  so  that  he  can  in  turn  trade  with  the  resident  of  the 
larger  town  or  city.  In  other  words,  the  country  merchant  who 
is  up  to  date  will  extend  his  former  small  trade,  heretofore  confined 
to  his  small  community,  by  getting  in  touch  with  various  house- 
holders of  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  and  daily,  if  necessary, 
furnish  them  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  fresh,  pure,  and  unstored. 
It  will  be  but  a  simple  process  of  expansion,  and  the  live,  active 
American  storekeeper  will  readily  adapt  himself  to  the  changed 
conditions  and  establish  a  trade  which  will  greatly  exceed  his 
fondest  dreams.  Moreover,  this  merchant,  of  necessity,  purchases 
in  small  quantities.  He  buys  from  a  jobber  or  a  merchant  in  a 
larger  adjoining  town  who  carries  a  larger  stock  with  a  greater  assort- 
ment. He  will,  under  the  parcel  post,  write  or  telephone,  and  in 
a  day  replenish  his  stock,  outside  of  large  orders  for  groceries  and 
like  articles,  at  a  cost  much  below  the  price  he  now  pays  in  freight 
or  expressage,  with  the  additional  drayage  for  the  time  lost  in  using 
his  own  conveyance. 

Postmaster-General  Meyer,  in  1908,  said: 

The  free  rural  delivery  has  improved  materially  and  intellectually 
the  life  of  great  numbers  of  the  farmers  and  those  living  in  rural 
communities.  Is  it  too  much  to  ask  that  the  department  shall 
make  a  further  use  of  this  important  system,  a  use  which,  while 
adding  appreciably  to  the  postal  revenues,  will  directly  and  vitally 
benefit  every  man,  woman,  and  child  within  reach  of  a  rural  route? 
The  countryman  would  have  the  necessities  of  life  delivered  at  his 
gate  at  an  average  cost  of  2  cents  a  pound,  thereby  facilitating  and 


ARGUMENTATION  293 

increasing  consumption.  This  would  mean  augmentation  of  the 
trade  of  the  thousands  of  country  merchants.  The  commercial 
traveler  should  appreciate  the  advantages  of  this  system;  it  would 
increase  his  orders,  because  the  country  merchant  buys  from  the 
jobber  or  wholesaler.  Every  component  part  of  our  commercial 
system  would  feel  the  effects  of  an  increased  prosperity. 

What  the  Postmaster-General  said  in  1908  is  true  to  a  greater 
degree  to-day. 

From  speech  by  CONGRESSMAN  GRAGG  on  Parcel  Post  section  of 
Postal  bill.  "Congressional  Record." 

Remember  that  proof  is  always  stronger  than  disproof, 
and  do  not  try  to  lay  more  stress  on  what  is,  at  best,  nega- 
tive. 

It  is  never  courteous  or  "good  form"  to  accuse  your  op- 
ponent of  falsehood  or  of  bad  faith.  His  reasoning  is  weak, 
his  point  not  well  taken,  or  untenable,  or  beside  the  ques- 
tion, or  based  on  erroneous  information,  but  he  must  be 
presumed  to  be  honorable. 

The  assertion  that  some  point  is  valueless,  for  whatever 
reason,  must  be  proved  just  as  carefully  as  any  positive 
statement. 

Exercise  XIII. 

Formulate,  according  to  the  method  illustrated  in  the 
specimen  briefs  on  pages  277,  282  and  285,  a  refutation  of 
some  point  made  by  your  opponent,  for  one  of  the  proposi- 
tions in  Exercise  XII,  page  280  f. 

Then,  as  a  conclusion,  summarize  concisely,  as  in  the 
forms  on  pages  279,  285,  287,  the  main  points  in  your  brief, 
including  the  refutation. 

METHOD  OP  DEBATE 

A  debate  may  be  participated  in  by  two,  four,  or  six 
people,  if  it  be  a  formal  one.  Douglas  and  Lincoln,  when 
candidates  for  the  United  States  senatorship,  went  through 


294  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

the  state,  appearing  together  in  debates  that  have  become 
classic.  In  formal  debates  it  is  common  to  have  six  speak- 
ers, three  on  each  side.  In  the  practical  affairs  of  life,  in 
class  elections,  committee  meetings,  board  and  directors' 
meetings,  and  in  legislative  assemblies,  debates  are  partici- 
pated in  by  many  persons  on  each  side,  who  add  points  or 
disprove  others,  as  opportunity  is  afforded.  It  is  for  this 
lively,  keen,  and  decisive,  though  extemporaneous  form,  that 
we  must  prepare  eventually.  But  formal  practice  is  the  best 
preparation. 

We  shall  suppose  that  six  persons  have  been  chosen  to 
debate  before  the  school.  The  leader  on  each  side  must 
make  the  arrangements.  When  one  team  challenges  an- 
other, it  is  the  custom  for  the  challenged  team  to  have  the 
choice  of  sides.  It  may,  however,  be  decided  by  lot.  When 
possible,  it  is  best  for  the  leader  to  apportion  to  each  mem- 
ber of  his  team  the  part  he  shall  take.  The  preparation 
must,  of  course,  be  carefully  made.  Both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion should  receive  equal  attention.  Some  prefer  to  de- 
bate on  the  side  which  they  do  not  personally  favor,  be- 
cause of  the  valuable  practice.  It  is  wise,  at  any  rate,  to 
draw  up  a  brief  on  each  side,  to  test  both,  and  be  ready  for 
any  argument  of  the  opponents. 

The  first  speaker  is  always  for  the  affirmative.  He  opens 
the  debate  with  all  the  material  necessary  for  a  clear  un- 
derstanding of  the  question,  in  expository  form.  He  states 
the  proposition  in  general,  gives  the  origin  or  history  of  the 
question,  limits  or  defines  it,  sets  aside  irrelevant  issues 
or  those  about  which  there  is  no  dispute,  and  states  the 
point  at  issue  and  the  side  he  represents.  He  may  then 
deliver  the  first  part  of  the  argument,  covering  one  chief 
division.  He  is  followed  by  the  speaker  for  the  negative 
who  has  been  assigned  to  the  first  section  of  that  argument. 


ARGUMENTATION  295 

The  second  speaker  for  the  affirmative  takes  up  the  sec- 
ond main  division,  and  may  also  refute  some  point  made  by 
the  first  speaker  for  the  negative.  The  second  speaker 
for  the  negative  then  does  the  same  for  his  side.  The  third 
on  each  side  takes  up  the  final  division. 

In  all  formal  debates  the  speakers  are  limited  to  a  defi- 
nite time  for  each,  and  are  usually  warned  by  a  bell  before 
time  is  called.  In  some,  each  speaker  is  allowed  a  few 
minutes  for  rebuttal,  after  all  have  spoken  once.  In  others, 
one  on  each  side  is  allowed  to  take  the  floor  again  for 
rebuttal.  The  last  speaker  on  each  side  should  summarize 
briefly,  as  part  of  his  conclusion,  the  points  of  all  speakers 
on  his  side. 

Whether  in  single  argument  or  debate,  the  arrangement 
of  main  heads  must  be  carefully  considered.  There  are 
several  rules,  no  one  of  which  always  holds  good.  In  fact, 
they  often  conflict.  Obviously,  the  most  natural,  coherent, 
and  logical  order  should  be  followed  unless  there  is  good 
reason  for  another.  In  general,  the  strongest  point  makes 
a  good  climax,  the  next  in  strength  serves  well  at  the  be- 
ginning, and  the  weakest  may  be  in  the  middle.  For  this 
reason,  the  refutation,  always  weaker  than  a  positive  ar- 
gument, should  usually  come  in  the  middle.  If,  however, 
the  first  speaker  on  the  negative  can  make  a  telling  point 
by  first  refuting  what  the  speaker  for  the  affirmative  has 
just  said,  he  should  not  hesitate  to  do  so  before  giving  posi- 
tive proof.  Sometimes  a  point  the  weakest  in  logic  may 
be  used  with  the  most  telling  effect  at  the  end,  to  leave  a 
lasting  impression,  through  sentiment  or  vivid  portrayal, 
on  the  audience.  The  order  that  seems  best  adapted  to 
the  subject  and  to  the  occasion  must  be  used. 

Brethren:  It  would  not  be  fair  that  I  should  take  advantage  of 
your  generosity.  I  shall  endeavor  to  close  up  the  argument  in  a 


296  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

shorter  time  than  you  have  allowed  me.  I  stated  at  the  outset  that 
the  court  had  been  misrepresented,  that  powers  were  attributed  to 
it  of  which  the  framers  of  it  never  dreamed.  It  was  represented  as 
some  big  bogey  standing  with  fearful  menace  over  a  General  Con- 
ference that  does  not  have  strength  enough  to  assert  its  rights. 
It  has  been  represented  in  various  ways.  One  dear  brother  seemed 
to  challenge  that  statement  when  he  got  up,  but  I  appeal  to  you 
if  his  speech  was  not  a  shining  example  of  the  accuracy  of  that  state- 
ment. Then  it  was  put  forward  by  my  eminent  friend,  Dr.  Buckley, 
that  that  great  Conference  hi  1852,  which  took  up  the  matter  of 
the  request  of  the  bishops  for  the  forming  of  a  court  just  such  as 
is  here  described — he  read  from  his  paper  that  it  was  only  promotive 
of  confusion  and  of  disorder,  and  of  setting  up  a  third  house,  and  all 
that.  Why  did  he  not  read  the  whole  of  that  paper?  Why  did 
he  read  three  lines  and  leave  out  this  paragraph,  which  I  will  read 
to  you?  "They  had  the  subject  under  consideration  and  are  fully 
of  the  opinion  that  provision  should  be  made  at  this  time  for  such 
a  department  in  the  general  administration  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church;  the  necessity  of  some  conservative  power  to  guard 
the  constitutional  acts  of  the  General  Conference  and  preserve  the 
limitations  and  restrictive  rules  by  which  it  is  to  be  governed 
has  been  seen  and  felt  by  a  large  portion  of  the  Church  ever  since 
the  General  Conference  was  made  a  representative  body. " 

I  wish  to  say  that  the  supreme  court  is  not  for  the  purpose  of 
restraining  the  rights  or  the  privileges  of  the  General  Conferences 
as  its  sole  purpose.  What  does  it  do?  It  does  everything 
that  your  Judiciary  Committee  does  now.  If  you  should  make 
this  Judiciary  Committee  permanent,  you  would  have  this  supreme 
court  and  nothing  more,  except  in  this  particular,  and  that  particu- 
lar lies  in  its  finality;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  findings  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee  are  now  practically  final.  As  a  matter  of 
history  I  think  it  is  true  that  only  once  in  twelve  years  have  the 
findings  of  that  committee  been  rejected  by  the  General  Conference. 
Now,  during  the  General  Conferences  this  court  does  not  sit  in 
perpetual  session,  as  one  speaker  said  from  this  platform;  it  comes 
together  only  when  there  is  need  for  it,  just  as  courts  of  appeal 


ARGUMENTATION  297 

throughout  the  Church  convene  now  only  when  the  emergencies 
arise.  But  I  submit  to  you  if  it  is  not  wise  that  there  should  be  a 
permanent  court  that  may  be  called  together  any  time  to  study  and 
to  decide  upon  the  appeals  which  come  up  from  an  ever-enlarging 
Church,  and  from  a  Church  which  by  reason  of  its  large  increase 
in  members  becomes  more  complex  every  day  by  the  clash  of  the 
units  composing  the  whole.  Then,  at  the  General  Conference, 
those  who  are  members  of  the  Judiciary  are  members  of  this  body; 
they  are  in  the  various  committees,  they  have  not  the  time  to  devote 
care  and  attention  to  the  complex  cases  that  come  up  before  them. 
Rebuttal  in  debate  on  establishment  of  a  church  court,  General 
Conference  of  M.  E.  Church,  1912.  REV.  R.  J.  COOKE. 

EXAMPLES  OF  CONCLUSION  IN  ARGUMENT 

1.  Now,  I  owe  to  the  Members  of  the  House  a  sincere  apology 
for  the  time  I  have  taken.  But  this  is  not  a  little  subject.  It 
is  a  most  important  subject.  In  my  judgment  it  is  charged  with 
matter  of  the  gravest  national  moment  to  our  country.  When 
we  have  reached  a  condition  where  workmen,  working  at  full 
tune  and  at  full  pay  on  wages  larger,  perhaps,  than  they  have 
ever  received  before,  are  yet  unable  to  make  both  ends  meet  because 
of  the  high  cost  of  living,  I  say  you  are  fronting  a  situation  that  may 
be  charged  with  peril  to  this  country. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  that  any  one  line  of  treatment 
or  any  one  remedy  is  going  to  cure  even  all  the  remediable  ills  of 
society.  I  do  not  say  that  this,  even  if  carried  out  hi  its  most  per- 
fect conception,  would  cure  all  the  ills  of  society,  or  even  cure  the 
whole  aggravated  situation  associated  with  the  high  cost  of  living. 
But  I  do  say  this,  gentlemen,  that  the  Goeke  bill  comes  closer  to 
cutting  in  two  the  prices  of  the  vital  necessaries  of  life  on  the 
workman's  table  than  any  measure  that  has  yet  come  to  my  notice. 

It  has  been  said  that  never  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  a 
great  crisis  arisen  when  American  statesmanship  and  patriotism 
were  not  there  to  meet  it  in  an  adequate  way.  I  pray  God  that 
before  the  stability  of  this  country  has  been  put  in  jeopardy,  as 


208  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

now  threatens  within  10  years,  that  statesmanship  and  that  patriotic 
spirit  may  not  fail  us  on  this  subject. 

Conclusion  of  remarks  on  the  Parcel  Post  Bill  as  related  to  the 
cots  of  living.     REPRESENTATIVE  LEWIS.     "Congressional  Record." 

2.  In  three  ways,  then,  the  American  woman  is  fitted  specially 
to  cope  with  the  modern  industrial  situation.     First,  she  will 
inevitably  take  the  natural,  human  point  of  view  on  all  questions. 
Second,  she  will  recognize  the  value  of  encouraging  spontaneity  of 
accomplishment  in  children.    Third,  in  the  part  of  the  working 
woman  she  will  accept  quite  simply  and  sanely  the  fact  of  shop 
work,   desiring  only  that  conditions  be  suitable.     In  all  three 
directions  she  will  accomplish  the  desired  result  of  simplifying  life 
or  reducing  it  to  its  finest  significance. 

Conclusion  of  speech  at  Faneuil  Hall  by  JANE  ADDAMS. 

3.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  regard  this  treaty,  whether  it  is  so  intended 
by  its  proponents  or  not,  as  the  initial  step  in  the  direction  of  free 
trade.    It  may  be  a  good  thing  for  the  people  of  my  district,  but 
I  do  not  believe  it;  I  am  from  Pike  County,  Ky.,  and  you  will  have 
to  "show  me"  before  I  do  believe  it.    I  am  an  Abraham  Lincoln- 
James  G.  Elaine-William  McKinley  Republican.    I  was  born  a 
protectionist  and  raised  a  protectionist,  and  I  do  not  propose  to 
go  back  on  my  raisin'  at  this  late  date.    I  believe  that  this  treaty 
is  un-Republican,  and  I  shall  vote  against  it. 

Conclusion  of  speech  on  Reciprocity  with  Canada.    REPRESEN- 
TATIVE JOHN  W.  LANGLEY.    "Congressional  Record." 

4.  This  congress  should,  above  all  things,  emphasize  the  great 
importance  of  good  roads  to  and  from  the  farms  of  the  country. 
It  should  encourage  State  and  National  aid  to  good  roads,  so  as  to 
bring  to  the  expenditure  on  road  building  the  greatest  degree  of 
intelligence  and  efficiency  and  concentrated  effort.    This  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  important  factor  of  all  in  making  the  farm  more 
desirable  to  the  people,  in  making  the  farm  more  attractive,  in 
making  it  more  remunerative,  and  giving  to  it  those  elements  which 


ARGUMENTATION  299 

are  necessary  and  essential  to  peace  of  mind  and  to  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  the  farmer. 

Conclusion  of  speech  on  Bill  for  National  Roads.  SENATOR  OWEN. 
"Congressional  Record." 

Some  people  ridicule  the  idea  of  high  school  boys  and 
girls  debating  on  the  great  political  or  national  questions 
of  the  day.  Of  course  none  of  us  who  has  not  spent  years 
studying  such  problems  can  hope  to  master  them  in  a  few 
days  or  weeks,  or  to  do  justice  to  them  from  the  school 
platform.  But  should  that  fact  forbid  our  thinking  about 
them  as  best  we  can,  with  whatever  material  is  available 
as  a  basis?  We  all  ought  to  know,  as  a  matter  of  common 
intelligence,  what  is  going  on  in  state  and  nation.  The 
same  people  who  do  not  want  us  to  discuss  large  affairs  are 
much  shocked  at  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  current  topics 
shown  by  the  average  boy  or  girl.  Perhaps  we  shall  know 
more  about  them  if  we  try  to  talk  about  them.  Then,  too, 
the  people  of  the  colleges  and  of  the  world  at  large  say  that 
the  younger  generation  does  no  thinking.  Are  we  not  likely 
to  think  about  subjects  worth  while  if  they  are  made  a 
part  of  our  daily  work?  The  boys,  and  probably  also  the 
girls,  now  in  our  schools  will  be  voters  in  a  few  years.  Some 
of  the  questions  before  the  voters  and  the  legislators  now 
will  again  come  before  the  voters  of  ten  years  hence,  in 
modified  form.  The  more  we  have  thought  and  talked 
about  them,  the  better  able  we  shall  be  to  form  right 
opinions  and  act  for  the  best  when  these  or  new  questions 
come  up  for  settlement.  Because  we  want  to  be  intelligent 
members  of  society,  and  because  we  ought  to  become  useful 
citizens,  we  are  justified  in  arguing  large  questions. 

Let  two  leaders  appointed  by  the  instructor  arrange  for 
a  debate  before  the  school,  or  for  graduation,  or  for  a  pub- 


300  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

lie  entertainment  under  the  auspices  of  the  school.  Several 
weeks,  at  least,  should  be  taken  for  the  gathering  of  ma- 
terial, the  formulating  of  briefs,  and  the  practice  of  ex- 
pression. For  the  latter  examine  the  arguments  by  ex- 
President  Taft  and  Congressman  Redfield  beginning  on 
pages  301  and  304. 

Subjects  of  current  interest,  discussed  in  the  newspapers 
and  periodicals  and  by  the  people,  should,  preferably,  be 
chosen.  The  following  are  merely  suggestive.  (See  page 
339.) 

1.  The  parcel  post  is  practicable  in  its  present  form. 

2.  The  postal  banks  should  pay  a  higher  rate  of  interest. 

3.  Congress  should  control  by  laws  the  interstate  commerce  in 
intoxicating  liquors. 

4.  Letter  postage  should  be  reduced. 

5.  Second-class  postage  rates  should  be  increased. 

6.  The  civil  service  should  include  consulships. 

7.  The  U.  S.  government  should  establish  a  training  school  for 
the  diplomatic  service. 

8.  This  state  should  have  a  state  police  force,   (cf .  Pennsylvania 
and  Ireland). 

9.  The  national  government  (instead  of  the  state  government) 
should  conserve  the  forests. 

10.  The  national  government  should  provide  for  good  roads. 

11.  The  national  government  should  pay  for  the  irrigation  of 
western  lands. 

12.  The    government  should  open  all  lands  still  held  by  the 
Indians. 

13.  The  Indians  should  be  on  a  par,  as  citizens,  with  white  men. 

14.  Immigration  should  be  farther  restricted. 

15.  The  Chinese  Exclusion  Act  should  be  repealed. 

16.  An  educational  qualification  should  be  required  of  voters. 

17.  All  voters  should  have  the  right  to  vote  on  public  improve- 
ments. 

18.  Franchises  should  be  taxed  by  the  state. 


ARGUMENTATION  301 

19.  Direct  primaries  should  be  established  in  every  state. 

20.  The  ballot  should  be  made  less  complex. 

21.  Ten  per  cent  of  the  voters  should  be  able  to  initiate  legis- 
lation. 

22.  All  legislation  hi  the  states  should  be  submitted  to  the  people 
for  ratification. 

23.  The  initiative,  referendum,  and  recall  are  in  accordance  with 
long  accepted  usage. 

24.  Women  should  be  allowed  to  determine  woman  suffrage  by 
separate  vote. 

25.  The  national  government  should  regulate  wages  and  hours 
of  labor. 

26.  The  government  should  establish  a  permanent  bureau  for 
settlement  of  labor  disputes. 

27.  The  United  States  should  regulate  all  ocean  steamers  enter- 
ing her  ports. 

28.  The  State  should  care  for  all  defectives. 

29.  The  State  should  provide  employment  agencies. 

30.  The  State  should  procure  employment  for  ex-convicts. 

31.  The  State  should  provide  old-age  pensions. 

32.  The  State  should  provide  for  insurance  (as  hi  Connecticut, 
or  England). 

33.  The  State  should  provide  incomes  for  poor  widows  with 
children. 

34.  The  State  (or  City)  should  provide  social  workers  as  it  does 
teachers. 

35.  The  State  should  regulate  "private  banks." 

SPECIMENS  OF  ARGUMENT 
THE  OPERATION  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  AND  LEGISLATIVE  BRANCHES 

SHOULD  BE  BROUGHT  TOGETHER 

It  is  said  that  the  office  of  President  is  the  most  powerful  in  the 
world,  because  under  the  Constitution  its  occupant  really  can  exer- 
cise more  discretion  than  an  emperor  or  king  exercises  hi  any  of 
the  governments  of  modern  Europe.  I  am  not  disposed  to  question 
this  as  a  matter  of  reasoning  from  the  actual  power  given  the  Presi- 
dent in  the  Constitutional  division  of  governmental  functions,  but 


302  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  consciousness  of  such  power  is  rarely,  if 
ever,  present  in  the  mind  of  the  ordinary  individual  acting  as  Presi- 
dent, because  what  chiefly  stares  him  in  the  face  in  carrying  out  any 
plan  of  his  is  the  limitation  upon  the  power  and  not  its  extent. 
Of  course,  there  are  happy  individuals  who  are  able  entirely  to 
ignore  those  limitations  both  hi  mind  and  practice,  and  as  to  them 
the  result  may  be  different.  But  to  one  whose  training  and  pro- 
fession is  subordinate  to  law  the  intoxication  of  power  rapidly 
sobers  off  in  the  knowledge  of  its  restrictions  and  under  the  prompt 
reminder  of  an  ever-present  and  a  not  always  considerate  press,  as 
well  as  by  the  kindly  suggestions  that  not  infrequently  come  from 
that  hall  of  Congress  in  which  impeachments  are  intimated  and  that 
smaller  chamber  in  which  they  are  tried. 

In  these  days  of  progress,  reform,  uplift,  and  improvement  a 
man  does  not  show  himself  abreast  of  the  age  unless  he  has  some 
changes  to  suggest.  It  is  the  recommended  change  that  marks 
his  being  up  to  date.  It  may  be  a  change  only  for  the  sake  of  change, 
but  it  is  responsive  to  a  public  demand,  and  therefore  let's  pro- 
pose it 

A  suggestion  I  would  make  is  that  legislative  steps  be  taken,  for 
there  is  nothing  in  the  Constitution  to  forbid  it,  bringing  more 
closely  together  the  operation  of  the  executive  and  legislative 
branches.  The  studied  effort  hi  which  we  maintain  these  branches 
rigidly  separate  is,  I  think,  a  mistake.  I  would  not  add  any  more 
actual  power  to  the  executive  in  legislative  matters,  nor  would  I 
give  the  legislative  any  more  actual  power  hi  executive  matters. 
The  veto  on  the  one  hand  and  the  confirmation  of  appointments 
and  the  ratification  of  treaties  on  the  other,  I  would  not  change. 
But  it  does  seem  to  me  that  they  need  not  be  at  arm's  length,  as 
they  are  now  are  under  our  present  system.  It  has  been  proposed 
twice  in  our  history,  after  the  fullest  consideration  by  some  of  the 
wisest  statesmen  we  have  ever  had,  to  pass  a  law  giving  to  each 
department  head  a  seat  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House,  and  a  right 
to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  proposed  legislation  in  either  of  the 
national  legislative  bodies.  This  would  keep  Congress  much  better 
informed  as  to  the  actual  conditions  in  the  executive  departments. 


ARGUMENTATION  303 

It  would  keep  the  department  heads  on  the  qui  vive  with  reference 
to  their  knowledge  of  their  own  departments  and  their  ability  to 
answer  appropriate  questions  in  respect  to  them.  It  would  neces- 
sitate the  appointment  to  the  Cabinet  of  men  used  to  debate  and 
to  defend  their  positions,  and  it  would  offer  an  opportunity  for  the 
public  to  judge  of  the  Executive  and  his  government  much  more 
justly  and  much  more  quickly  than  under  our  present  system.  The 
ignorance  that  Congress  at  times  has  of  what  is  actually  going  on 
in  the  executive  departments  and  the  fact  that  hours  of  debate 
and  pages  of  The  Congressional  Record  might  be  avoided  by  the 
answer  to  a  single  question  by  a  competent  Cabinet  officer  on  the 
floor  of  either  House  is  frequently  brought  sharply  to  the  attention 
of  competent  observers. 

I  think,  too,  it  might,  perhaps,  promote  the  amenities  between 
the  two  branches  if  this  system  were  introduced.  The  rules  of  the 
two  Houses,  as  I  am  advised,  forbid  the  use  of  abusive  language  by 
one  member  against  another,  and  by  a  member  of  one  House  against 
the  other  House  or  its  members.  A  somewhat  close  examination  of 
the  rules,  however,  of  both  Houses  does  not  show  that  there  is  any 
limitation  upon  the  parliamentary  character  of  the  language  which 
may  be  directed  against  the  President.  As  to  him  the  members 
pursue  their  own  sweet  will,  and  that  sometimes  leads  them  into 
language  and  epithetical  description  of  the  Chief  Executive  that 
could  hardly  be  called  complimentary.  If  members  of  the  Cabinet 
were  allowed  the  floor,  their  very  presence  would  suggest,  in  the 
possibility  of  reply,  moderation  in  discussing  the  Administration, 
which  does  not  now  at  all  times  prevail. 

The  strongest  reason  for  advocating  this  change,  however,  is 
that  the  influence  the  Executive  shall  have  in  shaping  legislation 
shall  be  more  in  harmony  with  the  responsibility  that  the  people 
hold  him  to  hi  respect  to  it.  He  is  the  head  of  the  party  that  elected 
him,  and  as  such,  if  Congress  is  controlled  by  the  same  political 
party,  as  it  generally  is,  he  is  looked  to  to  shape  the  Congressional 
policy  and  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  statutes  which  the  party 
platform  has  promised.  Now,  with  such  a  burden  on  him,  he  ought 
to  have  a  greater  means  of  bringing  about  what  he  wishes  in  the 


304  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

character  of  the  legislation  to  be  considered  by  Congress,  and  greater 
powers  of  persuasion  to  secure  the  adoption  of  such  legislation  than 
those  which  the  mere  right  to  send  messages  and  the  mere  oppor- 
tunity of  personal  consultation  with  leading  members  of  the  House 
and  Senate  give  him.  I  doubt  not  that  the  presence  of  able  Cabinet 
officers  on  the  floor  of  each  House  would  give  greater  harmony  of 
plan  for  the  conduct  of  public  business  in  both  Houses,  and  would 
secure  much  more  valuable  legislation  in  accordance  with  party 
plans  than  we  have  now.  On  the  other  hand,  the  system  would 
enable  Congress  to  come  closer  to  the  Executive,  and  pry  more 
effectively  into  each  act  and  compel  a  disclosure  of  the  reasons  justi- 
fying it  immediately  at  the  time  of  the  act,  and  keep  the  public  more 
quickly  advised  by  the  direct  questions  of  hostile  critics,  which  must 
be  answered,  of  the  progress  of  business  under  Executive  auspices. 

Of  course  this  is  not  the  complete  English  system,  because  it 
does  not  give  to  the  Cabinet  the  power  to  lead  and  control  legisla- 
tive action,  as  the  British  Government  may  in  Parliament.  But  it 
combines  so  much  of  that  which  is  valuable,  and,  as  it  can  be  done 
by  a  mere  act  of  Congress,  I  think  it  ought  to  be  tried. 

Extract  from  speech  by  PRESIDENT  TAFT  before  the  Lotus  Club, 
Nov.  16,  1912.  By  permission. 

THE  HOURS  OF  MAIL-CARRIERS 

MR.  CHAIRMAN:  I  desire  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  who  has  kindly  yielded  that  I  may 
speak  at  this  particular  moment,  having  engagements  later  in  the 
day.  As  an  Irish  friend  of  mine  said,  I  want  to  say  before  I  com- 
mence that  I  agree  most  heartily  with  the  gentleman  from  Illinois 
in  his  regret  that  this  bill  does  not  yet  provide  for  the  promotion 
and  advancement  of  the  laborers  employed  in  the  Post  Office 
Department.  I  hope  it  will  ultimately  come  so  to  do,  and  I  shall 
be  glad  to  join  with  anyone  who  will  bring  that  about.  I  think  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  Government  to  be  a  model  employer, 
and  that  it  should  open  the  door  of  opportunity  to  its  humblest 
servants  as  well  as  to  those  higher  in  its  service. 


ARGUMENTATION  305 

I  am  sure  also  that  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  left  unsaid  one- 
half  of  what  he  had  in  mind  when  he  spoke  of  the  effect  of  the 
conditions  of  department-store  employment  and  wages  upon  the 
young  women  in  those  stores.  The  other  half  I  am  sure  he  meant  to 
say,  and  for  him  and  in  his  behalf  I  want  to  say  it  in  a  moment  or 
two  now.  I  personally  know  four  great  department  stores,  one  in 
Philadelphia,  one  in  New  York,  one  in  Brooklyn,  and  one  in  Boston, 
the  proprietors  of  which  strain  every  nerve  for  the  care  of  their 
working  girls.  On  the  minds  of  these  men  the  rate  of  wages  and 
the  uplift  of  those  girls  are  a  moral  charge.  It  never  leaves  their 
thought.  One  of  them  said  to  me  one  day:  "  Mr.  Redfield,  I  would 
like  to  advance  my  6,000  girls  50  cents  a  week,  but  I  do  not  know 
now  where  the  $156,000  per  year  that  that  would  cost  is  to  come 
from."  But  by  opportunity  for  promotion,  and  in  every  way  he 
could  do  it,  he  strove  to  uplift  those  girls.  And  in  like  manner  I 
know  men  in  other  cities  who  have  esteemed  it  a  privilege  and  a 
duty  to  strive  to  carry  out  the  uplift  of  their  employees  to  the  full. 

I  want  to  speak,  however,  this  afternoon  upon  section  5  of  this 
bill,  which  has  relation  to  the  hours  of  work  of  the  letter  carriers, 
and  to  place  before  the  committee  certain  facts  collected  by  a  sub- 
committee, of  which  I  was  chairman,  a  few  weeks  ago  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  post  office  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  These  facts  have 
not  heretofore  been  made  public.  They  have  not  yet  appeared  in 
the  report  of  the  subcommittee,  because  the  matter  was  so  large  it 
has  not  been  possible  to  get  that  report  prepared,  but  they  should 
be  before  the  House  in  the  discussion  of  this  bill,  which  is  directly 
affected  by  them.  There  are  three  distinct  matters  of  which  I 
wish  to  speak  which  affect  the  letter-carrier  force  in  our  great  post 
offices.  These  are  the  matter  of  hours,  the  matter  of  the  speed  or 
the  nervous  tension  under  which  the  men  work,  and  the  matter 
of  the  weight  those  men  carry.  On  two  of  these  matters  I  have 
before  me  official  information  coming  from  the  department  itself 
and  acknowledged  to  be  correct  by  the  men  themselves.  I  will 
first  take  up  the  question  of  hours,  then,  briefly,  to  which  section  5 
refers.  I  have  in  my  hand  the  time  cards  of  certain  of  the  force 
hi  the  general  post  office  and  hi  four  stations  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn 


306  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

during  the  latter  part  of  February,  1912,  and  I  read  briefly  from 
these  cards,  as  it  would  be  difficult  to  insert  them  in  the  RECORD 
without  reading  because  of  their  peculiar  form.  I  find  the  follow- 
ing facts  relating  to  what  are  known  as  the  "long  tours"  on  the 
alternate  weeks:  One  week  these  men  work  the  straight  eight 
hours.  Their  partners  the  following  week  work  eight  hours,  and 
the  man  who  this  week  works  eight  hours,  next  week  works  what 
is  called  the  "  long  tour."  This  results  that  on  the  24th  of  February 
Mr.  Paul  A.  Graw,  attached  to  Station  B  of  the  Brooklyn  post  office, 
reported  for  duty  at  5.45  a.  m.  and  left  duty  finally  for  the  night  at 
7.09  p.  m.  There  is,  of  course,  as  you  know,  what  is  known  as 
the  midday  "swing."  That  is,  he  actually  worked  from  5.45  in 
the  morning  until  9.57,  when  he  had  a  swing,  and  he  reported 
again  for  duty  at  3.15,  and  left  at  7.09  p.  m.,  or  8  hours  and  6 
minutes  work,  distributed,  as  you  see,  over  a  period  of  13^  hours. 
The  next  day  the  same  carrier's  time  was  from  5.45  a.  m.  to 
7.l3  p.  m.;  the  next  day  from  5.45  to  7.10;  the  next  day  was  a 
holiday;  and  again  on  Friday  of  that  week  his  tune  was  from 
5.45  to  7.17,  and  he  completed  the  week  by  working  on  Saturday 
from  5.45  until  7  o'clock,  in  each  case  with  the  midday  swing  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  In  the  same  station,  Robert  C.  Green,  jr., 
on  the  same  day  (Feb.  24,  1912)  worked  from  5.45  a.  m.  to  7.15 
p.  m.;  the  following  day  the  same  hours;  the  following  day  from 
5.45  to  7.10;  the  following  day  was  a  holiday;  and  then  on  the 
next  day  he  worked  from  5.45  to  7,  and  on  Saturday  from  5.45 
to  7.15.  Thus  I  might  read  the  whole  of  the  cards  for  that  station 
which  gives  all  the  details.  I  will  turn  now  to  Station  S  in  another 
portion  of  the  city,  and  I  find  Thomas  J.  McManus  working  on 
the  24th  of  February  from  5.30  in  the  morning  until  6.25  in  the 
evening,  with  a  swing  from  9.40  to  2.15.  On  Tuesday  he  worked 
from  5.50  to  6.20  in  the  evening;  on  Wednesday  from  5.50  to  6.25; 
Thursday  was  a  holiday;  on  Friday  he  worked  from  5.50  to  6.3o; 
and  on  Saturday  from  5.50  to  6.20,  all  with  a  swing  in  the  middl*- 
of  the  day.  This  statement  may  be  said  to  be  typical  of  that 
station  also. 


ARGUMENTATION  307 

(Reports  from  other  stations  here  given.) 

I  will  not  read  more  cards,  because  they  will  be  made  a  part 
of  the  committee's  report,  and  any  Member  can  see  them. 

That  long  service  lasts  for  a  week,  and  the  length  of  the  "swing" 
between  the  early  and  the  late  tour  depends  on  the  tune  when  the 
carrier  gets  back  from  his  morning  service. 

Mr.  COOPER.  What  was  the  earliest  hour  at  which  any  of  them 
went  to  work,  as  you  remember? 

Mr.  REDFIELD.    Five-thirty. 

Mr.  COOPER.  And  that  is  undertsood  as  meaning  that  a  man 
has  to  get  up  about  4.30  in  the  morning  and  get  his  breakfast? 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  I  am  glad  the  gentleman  asked  the  question. 
I  asked  witnesses  under  oath  as  to  how  these  men  got  their  break- 
fast, and  was  told  they  could  not,  of  course,  disturb  their  wives  and 
children.  They  got  up  themselves  at  from  4.30  to  4.45,  prepared 
their  own  simple  breakfast,  and  got  away  from  the  house  at  5 
o'clock. 

Mr.  COOPER.  And  then  they  get  home  at  half  past  8  or  9  o'clock 
at  night? 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  I  do  not  desire  in  any  way  to  mislead  the  House 
as  to  the  fact  that  these  men  in  a  given  day  of  24  hours  do  no  more 
than  8  hours'  or  within  a  few  minutes  of  8  hours'  work.  But  each 
man  during  these  broken  days  feels  very  keenly  the  consciousness 
that  he  has  got  to  be  back  on  his  work,  so  to  speak,  and  his  mind 
must  be  upon  it  from  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  7  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  And  if  there  has  been  a  heavy  storm  which  has  inter- 
rupted the  traffic,  I  need  not  explain  to  this  House  the  situation 
in  which  that  man  finds  himself. 

So  much  for  what  I  may  call  the  negative  side  of  the  case.  The 
facts  are  admitted,  because  these  cards  were  given  me  by  authority 
of  the  post  office.  On  the  other  hand,  the  question  was  asked,  as 
a  part  of  our  committee  investigation,  how  a  change  of  hours  would 
work?  And  I  thought  it  was  fair  to  have  these  facts  under  oath 
in  order  to  pave  the  way  somewhat  for  this  discussion.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  local  Letter  Carriers'  Association  stated  that  it  would  be 
perfectly  possible  to  arrange  a  schedule  so  that  an  8-hour  day 


308  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

within  10  hours'  continuous  time  could  be  laid  out  without  serious 
additional  expense  to  the  Government  and  without  interruption 
to  the  work.  And  in  that  connection  he  pointed  out  what  every 
business  man  knows  to  be  true,  that  a  late  evening  delivery  for  a 
business  house  is  rarely  of  any  great  value,  for  any  delivery  in  a 
down-town  business  district  after  5  o'clock  is  practically  worthless 
for  use  that  day. 

He  was  asked  this  more  closely — the  president  of  the  Letter 
Carriers'  Association  in  the  Brooklyn  post  office  was  asked — if  he 
would  cause  to  be  prepared  a  schedule  based  upon  the  8  hours  in 
10,  and  did  so.  I  received  it  only  a  few  days  ago.  It  forms  a  por- 
tion of  the  subcommittee's  report,  and  it  is  here  now  in  my  hand  and 
is  available  for  examination  by  any  member  of  the  Post  Office  Com- 
mittee or  anybody  who  desires  to  see  it,  and  fully  works  out  any 
kind  of  tour — two  trips,  three  trips,  four  trips,  five  trips,  and  six- 
trip  routes — all  of  them  based  upon  continuous  8  hours'  work,  and 
all  of  them  showing  adjustment  to  the  necessary  convenience  alike 
of  the  business  and  the  residential  districts  of  the  city. 

Now,  as  to  the  question  of  hours,  it  is  my  judgment,  Mr.  Chair- 
man— after  examining  that  post  office  for  several  days  and  making 
careful  inquiry  of  the  carriers  in  several  of  the  stations — that  the 
question  of  hours  presented  by  this  bill  involves  no  more  than  an 
ordinary  business  adjustment,  and  would  do  justice  to  the  men  who 
are  fairly,  in  all  righteousness,  entitled  to  it. 

Now,  I  want  to  take  up  for  a  few  moments  another  phase  of  this 
same  subject.  What  do  these  men  have  to  carry  in  the  way  of 
weights?  We  had  before  us,  under  examination,  the  superintendent 
of  mails,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  1,100  and  more  carriers  who  operate 
in  that  post  office.  The  committee  requested  each  one  of  three 
stations  and  the  general  post  office  to  prepare  slips  showing  the 
largest  weight  taken  out  by  any  carrier  during  this  investigation 
on  certain  days,  which  we  fixed  without  the  authorities  knowing 
what  they  were  to  be  hi  advance.  These  slips  were  to  be  signed  by 
the  carrier  himself  and  by  the  superintendent  of  the  station,  so  that 
there  could  be  no  question  as  to  whether  they  told  the  truth  or  not. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  the  slips  representing  the  general  post  office  and 


ARGUMENTATION  309 

Stations  B,  S,  and  W,  on  the  1st  and  2d  of  March,  and,  referring 
to  those,  I  will  read  very  briefly  certain  questions  addressed  by  me 
to  the  superintendent  of  mail  delivery  in  Brooklyn  and  his  answers. 
And  in  saying  this  I  do  it  without  any  thought,  expressed  or  in  my 
mind,  of  criticism  of  the  officers  of  the  post  office.  That  is  not  at 
all  my  purpose.  I  simply  desire  to  make  a  public  record  of 
facts  which  relate  to  the  bill  now  under  discussion.  I  read: 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  What  do  you  consider  the  maximum  amount 
of  mail  a  carrier  can  handle  on  one  delivery  trip? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  Why,  on  the  three-trip  route  he  should  carry 
40  pounds  of  mail. 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  Do  you  know  what  the  average  load  was  that 
was  taken  out  of  the  general  post  office  in  Brooklyn  this 
morning? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  I  have  an  idea,  but  did  not  look  at  the  figures, 
as  I  did  not  think  you  would  want  me  to;  but  I  have  an  idea  that 
they  would  average  about  60  pounds  per  man. 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  Do  the  initialed  tickets  which  have  been  handed 
by  you  to  me,  and  which  I  show  you,  represent  the  loads  taken  out 
by  the  carriers  this  morning  in  the  Brooklyn  office. 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  I  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
tabulation  made  by  Judge  Towner  from  the  slips  shows  the  smallest 
load  taken  out  this  morning  to  be  52  pounds,  and  largest  81  pounds, 
or  an  average  for  20  carriers  of  65  pounds  mail.  To-day  was  not 
a  day  on  which  any  of  the  large  publications  had  to  be  delivered. 
What  would  you  say  was  the  heaviest  load  a  carrier  would  be  obliged 
to  take  out  at  one  time? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  That  is  a  very  problematical  question.  A 
week  ago  Tuesday  I  weighed  the  mail  on  route  12,  of  which  you 
have  the  corresponding  weight,  and  he  took  out  112  pounds. 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  Would  it  be  unusual  for  a  carrier  to  take  out 
as  many  as  40  copies  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  or  a  publication 
of  corresponding  weight  on  one  trip? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  That  would  be  possible  on  several  routes; 
not  more  than  10  in  the  whole  office. 


310  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  And  on  those  10  routes  that  would  mean  an 
added  load  of  approximately  40  pounds,  would  it  not? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.    About  that. 

Mr.  REDFIELD.  So  that  if  that  route  happened  to  be  the  one 
upon  which  these  tickets  which  you  have  furnished  showed  a  weight 
of  52  pounds  a  day,  that  load  might  become  90  pounds? 

Mr.  CARROUGHER.  Yes. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  go  through  these  tickets  in 
detail,  because  the  substance  of  them  has  appeared  in  the  ex- 
tracts from  the  testimony  which  I  have  read  to  you;  but  I  hope 
that  it  may  be  possible  to  incorporate  in  this  legislation  a  pro- 
vision that  a  letter  carrier  shall  not  be  required  to  take  out  at 
any  one  time  over  75  pounds  of  mail.  I  think  if  it  be  considered 
that  he  must  go  in  the  stress  of  weather,  without  regard  to  what 
the  conditions  are,  and  that  he  must  go  on  schedule  time  both 
as  to  his  start  and  as  to  his  return,  75  pounds  of  mail  is  all 
that  a  man  should  be  expected  to  carry  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

Finally,  this  that  I  shall  speak  about  is  a  matter  of  individual 
judgment.  It  must  be  taken  as  meaning  no  more  than  that.  I 
have  been  accustomed  all  my  life  to  shops  in  which  men  working 
in  considerable  numbers  have  been  employed.  One  gets  a  cer- 
tain habit  of  knowing  whether  the  men  are  overexerting  them- 
selves or  not.  It  was  my  judgment,  from  visiting  two  of  these 
stations  at  a  time  when  work  was  progressing  most  rapidly,  one 
of  them  the  general  post  office,  that  these  men  were  under  high 
tension.  In  examining  not  1  nor  2  nor  10,  but  more,  that  im- 
pression became  very  real  to  me,  and,  upon  inquiring  of  3  of  the 
carriers  under  oath  as  to  that  matter,  they  confirmed  it,  and  their 
statements  will  appear  in  the  record  of  the  committee. 

We  have,  then,  a  situation  of  this  kind,  that  half  the  time  in 
which  those  men  are  employed  they  are  employed  at  hours  which 
in  their  extremes  may  be  said  to  be  unusual  and  excessive.  Then 
they  are  occasionally  obliged — I  do  not  say  often — I  do  not  know 
how  often — to  carry  what  seem  to  me  to  be  excessive  loads,  and 
they  are  daily  obliged  to  work  under  what  seems  to  me  to  be  high 


ARGUMENTATION  311 

tension.  The  nervous  speed  with  which  the  work  must  be  done 
is  to  my  mind  a  very  real  factor  in  it.  And  this  must  be  always 
borne  in  mind,  that  they  are  not  merely  like  the  man  who  has 
so  much  ordinary  work  to  do,  but  this  particular  work  must  be 
done  with  a  very  high  percentage  of  accuracy.  Mistakes  are 
not  to  any  considerable  extent  allowable  at  all.  So  that  there  is 
here  not  merely  a  physical  but  a  mental  tension,  the  tension  of  a 
keen  mind  directed  to  very  accurate  work.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, which  I  have  tried  to  describe  as  simply  as  I  could 
and  very  briefly,  I  have  felt,  and  feel  now,  that  this  legislation, 
which  provides  for  these  carriers  working  8  hours  hi  a  continuous 
10,  is  in  the  first  place  practical  legislation,  requiring  no  serious 
trouble,  causing  no  injury  to  the  service,  and  occasioning  no  special 
difficulty  or  excessive  expense  in  its  establishment  and  operation. 
In  the  next  place  I  feel  that  it  is  wise.  We  have  a  force  of  men  that 
is,  I  think,  admirable.  The  gentleman  whose  testimony  I  have 
read  spoke  with  great  pride  of  his  working  force.  I  believe  the 
force  is  now  somewhat  overstrained  nervously.  I  believe  it  ought 
to  be  so  adjusted  in  these  details  that  we  may  feel  that  these  men 
are  working  within  and  not  beyond  their  powers. 

From  speech  of  CONGRESSMAN  REDFIELD,  on  portion  of  Postal 
Appropriation  Bill  relating  to  hours  of  carriers.  April  13, 
1912.  (Slight  omissions  made  from  report  in  "Congressional 
Record.") 

Although  many  theories,  both  scientific  and  moral,  have 
been  proved  true  to  the  satisfaction  of  most  people,  there 
are  new  ones  always  arising  which  are  doubted  for  a  long 
time.  Some  will  be  accepted,  others  overthrown.  In  this 
age  of  individualism  many  people  express  theories  con- 
trary to  tradition.  These  can  be  tested  only  by  experience. 
All  of  us  have  occasion  to  set  forth  for  others  the  proofs 
of  a  recent  theory  of  physics,  or  of  medicine,  or  of  the 
Tightness  of  certain  lines  of  conduct.  We  should  be  able  to 
do  so  with  clearness  and  force. 


312  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Exercise  XIV. 

Formulate  in  a  brief,  and  afterward  develop  in  an  argu- 
ment before  the  class,  one  of  the  following: 

1.  Air  is  a  mixture. 

2.  The  law  of  multiple  proportions  is  tenable. 

3.  The  wave  theory  of  light  is  tenable. 

4.  The  kinetic  theory  of  gases  (or  of  matter)  is  tenable. 

5.  The  theory  of  magnets  is  tenable. 

6.  All  bodies  fall  at  the  same  rate. 

7.  The  electron  theory  is  tenable. 

8.  The  theory  of  natural  selection  is  tenable. 

9.  The  theory  of  biologic  evolution  is  tenable. 

10.  Tuberculosis  is  infectious. 

11.  The  nebular  hypothesis  is  tenable. 

12.  New  York  State  is  a  glaciated  region. 

Exercise  XV. 

Let  two  or  six  pupils  debate  as  to  the  validity  of  one  of 
the  following: 

1.  Alcoholism  is  hereditary. 

2.  Cigarettes  are  harmful. 

3.  The  vegetarian  diet  is  better  than  the  mixed  diet. 

4.  Most  failures  in  school  are  due  to  physical  defects. 

5.  German  (or  French)  has  as  great  disciplinary  value  as  has 
Latin. 

6.  A  natural  science  has  as  great  a  disciplinary  value  as  has 
Latin. 

7.  All  men  are  created  equal. 

8.  Woman  suffrage  would  purify  politics. 

9.  Homicide  in  self-defense  is  justifiable. 

10.  Capital  punishment  is  right. 

11.  A  man  is  justified  in  spending  Sunday  according  to  his  per- 
sonal beliefs. 

12.  A  voter  should  place  party  loyalty  above  personal  convictions. 

13.  A  boy  is  justified  in  refusing  to  tell  the  name  of  a  culprit 
(under  certain  conditions). 


ARGUMENTATION  313 

14.  The  rule  of  the  sea,  that  women  should  be  saved  before  men, 
is  a  right  one. 

15.  The  theory  that  ignorance  of  the  law  excuses  none  is  justi- 
fiable. 

Some  questions  which  may  be  argued  are  a  combination 
of  belief  and  policy.  Many  of  these  affect  our  every-day 
conduct. 

Exercise  XVI. 

Give  concisely,  in  argumentative  form,  your  reasons  for 
the  attitude  you  take  on  one  of  the  following  questions: 

1.  Is  smuggling  by  tourists  justifiable? 

2.  Should  people  give  money  to  beggars? 

3.  Should  stores  be  open  evenings  the  three  weeks  preceding 
Christmas? 

4.  Should  people  celebrate  Christmas  by  giving  presents? 

5.  Is  a  detective  justified  in  using  a  dictograph,  or  hi  concealing 
himself  so  as  to  overhear  private  conversations? 

6.  Should  people  patronize  only  those  shops  which  sell  no  goods 
without  a  union  label? 

7.  Are  labor  unions  justified  hi  demanding  the  "closed  shop"? 

8.  Are  labor  unions  justified  hi  demanding  reinstatement  of 
employees  discharged  for  what  the  employer  deems  just  cause? 

9.  Should  men  be  expected  always  to  give  up  seats  to  women? 

10.  Should  baseball  games  be  allowed  on  Sunday? 

11.  Should  museums  and  libraries  be  open  on  Sunday? 

12.  Should  children  be  allowed  to  read  the  newspapers  freely? 

13.  Should  children  be  allowed  the  "funny  pages"  of  the  Sunday 
papers? 

14.  Should  children  be  allowed  to  select  their  own  books? 

15.  Should  employers  be  forced  to  provide  schooling  for  employees 
under  sixteen? 

16.  Are  pupils  of  the  public  schools  justified  hi  "going  on  strike" 
because  they  disapprove  of  some  action  of  the  Board  of  Education 
or  faculty? 


PKOPERIYOF 
DEPARTMENT  OF  DRAMATIC  ART 


PART  III 
TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL 


SUGGESTED  OUTLINES  FOR  PRACTICE 

Someone  has  given  your  school  society  a  picture,  or  set  of  books, 
or  statue.  Write  an  outline  for  your  speech  of  thanks. 

Outline  for  welcome  to  the  grand  chapter  of  your  fraternity. 
Seepages  356,  357,  361. 

Announcement  of  prize,  giving  details  and  urging  students  to 
compete. 

Introduction  of  outside  speaker  at  a  society  meeting  open  to 
the  school.  See  pages  355,  356,  359. 

Talk  giving  necessary  information,  and  urging  school  to  join 
excursion  to  see  a  ball  game,  or  to  go  on  some  expedition. 

Talk  on  the  new  school  paper,  telling  what  it  is,  and  urging  sup- 
port. 

Talk  to  entering  class,  on  some  school  organization. 

Talk  before  athletic  association  or  school,  stating  present  situa- 
tion of  some  team,  needs,  and  reasons  for  supporting  it,  ending  with 
appeal  for  money. 

Talk  before  society  to  which  you  belong.  As  president,  or  chair- 
man of  some  committee,  state  present  situation,  desire  for  change, 
and  proposed  plan. 

Talk  as  chairman  of  meeting  called  to  form  a  new  organization. 

Speech  before  school  or  class  meeting  or  some  society,  hi  regard 
to  a  common  grievance. 

Appeal  to  the  Faculty  for  a  special  holiday,  or  for  some  privilege. 

Speech,  by  president  of  senior  class,  on  proposed  plan  for  school 
government. 

Talk  by  any  class  officer  on  plans  for  Senior  Week. 

Talk  before  your  school  or  society  on  the  part  the  members 
might  take  in  a  new  movement  hi  your  town  for  clean  streets,  or 
abolition  of  unnecessary  noise,  care  of  parks,  etc. 

Opening  talk  by  chairman  of  meeting  called  to  consider  invita- 
tion to  school  or  class  to  take  part  in  celebration. 

Talk  before  class,  school,  or  society  about  coining  fair,  or  other 
entertainment,  for  library,  ball  team,  etc.,  with  a  view  to  explain- 
ing, arousing  interest,  and  obtaining  help. 

317 


GENERAL  TOPICS 
FOR  SCHOOL  ASSEMBLIES  OR  CLASSES 

Account  of  a  game  of  ball  played  by  the  school  team  in  an- 
other town. 

Let  one  explain  situation  of  grounds,  and  describe  scene 
before  game. 

Let  another  give  account  of  game. 

Let  another  describe  scene  afterward,  and  tell  of  any  inci- 
dents at  that  time. 

Possibly  a  fourth  may  tell  about  the  trip  home  and  the  cele- 
bration of  the  team. 

Your  school.    A  talk  including  description,  exposition,  argument. 

A  western  ranch. 

A  great  factory. 

Some  "  plant "  in  your  town. 

A  department  store. 

A  summer  hotel. 

A  certain  summer  resort. 

A  college  settlement  in  some  city. 

A  recent  railway  accident. 

The  present,  or  recent,  war  in (several  persons  taking 

different  phases). 

Discussion  of  some  diplomatic  situation  of  the  present. 

An  amusement  resort  hi  your  town. 

A  visit  to  a  coal  mine,  or  factory,  or  newspaper  office,  or  ship,  etc. 

The  review  of  the  fleet  in  New  York. 

The  recent  national  or  state  political  convention  of  the 

party. 

Account  of  some  notable  convention  or  other  gathering,  held  in 
or  near  your  town. 

Some  holiday  trips  around  your  city. 

How  to  see  New  York,  or  Washington,  or  some  other  city. 

Why  New  York,  or  some  other  city,  is  worth  seeing. 

Report  of  fraternity  convention  or  of  interscholastic  contest. 

318 


SUBJECTS  FOR  SENIOR  ORATIONS 
(To  be  Limited  as  Advisable) 

The  balance  of  power  in  Europe. 

United  States  control  of  South  America  through  diplomacy. 
The  power  of  the  United  States  in  Europe. 
The  "white  man's  burden." 
England  in  South  Africa. 
Present-day  application  of  arbitration. 
The  work  of  our  nation  for  world  peace. 
The  present  tendency  of  industrial  reform. 
The  present  status  of  the  Labor  Union. 
The  ideal  labor  organization. 
The  ideal  factory. 
The  awakening  of  the  employer. 
The  industrial  position  of  women  at  present. 
The  place  of  the  corporation  hi  modern  business. 
Business  morality. 
Carnegie's  work  for  humanity. 
Rockefeller's  gifts  to  the  people. 
Organized  charity. 

Should  people  give  money  to  beggars? 
Settlement  work  in  a  great  city. 
The  club  idea  among  the  lowly. 
The  awakening  of  civic  responsibility. 
The  new  politics. 

The  history  of  parties  hi  the  United  States. 
How  a  new  party  is  formed. 
Are  parties  beneficial  to  a  nation? 
Should  political  victors  have  the  spoils? 

Has  woman  suffrage  proved  a  benefit  in  Colorado?    (or  some 
other  state). 

Should  the  suffrage  be  restricted? 

319 


320  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  struggle  for  suffrage  in  England. 

Parties  in  England  (or  some  other  country). 

New  problems  of  the  cities. 

The  broadening  of  municipal  activities. 

How  a  city  charter  is  made. 

City  housekeeping. 

Should  city  officials  be  appointed  for  long  terms? 

Should  the  city  pension  its  employees? 

A  20th  century  city  compared  with  an  18th  century  city. 

What  "the  woman's  movement"  is. 

The  suffrage  movement  in  America. 

Some  leaders  among  women. 

Women  in  the  various  occupations. 

Some  women's  rights  gained  in  the  last  century. 

The  feminine  invasion  of  the  schools. 

The  fictional  heroine  of  various  periods. 

The  part  wheat  played  in  the  development  of  the  West. 

The  part  gold  has  had  in  the  development  of  the  United  States. 

What  iron  means  to  our  industrial  world. 

The  part  electricity  plays  in  our  life. 

Irrigation  in  the  West. 

What  the  Panama  Canal  means  to  the  West. 

What  the  Erie  Canal  meant  to  the  West. 

The  rural  mail  delivery  as  a  factor  in  country  life. 

The  life  of  the  farmer  now  compared  with  that  fifty  years  ago. 

A  century  in  transportation. 

A  century  in  invention. 

The  traffic  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

The  gifts  of  California  to  the  East. 

Opening  up  the  far  North. 

New  York  the  market  of  the  world. 

The  income  of  Nova  Scotia. 

The  income  of  Bermuda. 

The  development  of  the  summer  resort. 

The  Mecca  of  American  sightseers. 

New  England  as  the  Mecca  of  literary  pilgrims. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        321 

Harvard  or  Yale  or  any  other  college  as  the  Mother  of  authors 
or  of  statesmen. 

The  abolition  movement  as  a  school  of  oratory. 

The  lecture  platform  in  America. 

Congress  as  compared  with  Parliament  for  oratory. 

Is  the  political  orator  of  any  value  as  a  vote  getter? 

The  English  feudal  system  under  the  Normans. 

The  French  feudal  system  before  the  Revolution. 

The  feudal  system  hi  America.     (Patroons.) 

A  typical  English  manor  of  the  15th  century. 

A  typical  English  estate  to-day. 

The  modern  revival  of  great  estates  hi  America. 

The  modern  newspaper  compared  with  that  of  the  18th  century. 

The  power  of  the  modern  American  newspaper. 

Newspaper  morality. 

Should  an  editor  support  a  certain  political  party  because  the 
owner  of  the  paper  wishes  it? 

Should  children  be  allowed  to  read  newspapers? 

Should  the  Sunday  paper  be  patronized? 

Should  the  freedom  of  the  press  be  absolute? 

The  development  of  periodical  literature  in  America. 

The  place  of  the  periodical  in  modern  life. 

Should  the  periodical  censor  advertisements? 

Should  the  newspapers  print  full  accounts  of  crimes,  scandals, 
etc.? 

The  Indian  as  the  ward  of  the  government. 

How  the  government  is  making  Americans  of  the  Filipinos. 

How  the  schools  hi  New  York  make  little  Americans. 

A  city  of  nations. 

The  ideal  man  of  different  periods  of  civilization. 

The  growth  of  religious  toleration. 

Luxuries  of  the  present  compared  with  luxuries  a  hundred 
years  ago. 

The  immigrant  of  1850  compared  with  the  immigrant  of  to-day. 

The  famous  sieges  of  history. 

Aviation  hi  the  year  2000 


322  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

How  we  are  making  history  to-day. 

The  passing  of  the  little  red  schoolhouse. 

The  schoolmaster  in  literature. 

Some  famous  literary  friendships. 

The  children  of  Dickens. 

The  growth  of  the  temperance  movement. 

The  Jew  in  America. 

Some  modern  forms  of  slavery. 

Child  labor  in  our  own  country  (or  state). 

Public  philanthropy  in  our  state  (or  city). 

What  Uncle  Sam  does  for  the  farmer. 

What  the  government  does  for  health. 

Uncle  Sam  as  an  employer. 

Our  government  as  a  protector  of  its  sons  in  other  lands. 

How  a  territory  becomes  a  state. 

How  our  country  adopts  citizens. 


TOPICS  FOR  ORAL  REPORTS 
BASED  ON  THE  UNIFORM  ENTRANCE  REQUIREMENTS 

Note. — Nearly  all  recitations  on  some  of  these  books  can  be 
conducted  by  the  topical  method,  each  pupil  talking  on  one  of 
several  topics  which  have  been  assigned,  and  planned  by  all.  Any 
teacher  will  prefer  to  suggest,  herself,  such  topics  as  the  working  out 
of  the  plot,  the  character  studies,  the  use  of  suspense,  etc.  Those 
suggested  here  are  intended  for  individual  assignments  to  be 
worked  up  by  pupils  to  help  the  class  as  a  whole  in  the  understand- 
ing of  the  book,  or,  in  argumentative  subjects,  to  be  taken  for- 
mally or  informally  by  several  interested  in  that  question.  Many 
similar  ones  will  occur  to  teacher  and  pupils.  Few  specific  refer- 
ences have  been  given,  since  the  number  of  available  books  varies 
so  much  hi  different  libraries.  Pupils  should  learn  how  to  look 
for  material  themselves. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       323 

ADDISON 
The  DeCoverley  Papers 

Narrative  of  Addison's  travels.  (In  connection  with  Spectator's 
account  of  himself.)  (Macaulay :  Life  of  Addison.) 

Connected  story  of  Sir  Roger's  love  affair. 

Let  the  butler  give  an  account  of  the  incident  on  which  the 
painting  of  Sir  Roger  and  the  servant  were  based. 

Let  the  chaplain  tell  the  story  of  some  case  that  arose  hi  the 
parish,  such  as  that  of  Moll  White. 

Let  Will  Wimble  tell  how  he  caught  the  fish. 

Let  Tom  Touchy  tell  the  story  of  one  of  his  lawsuits. 

The  story  of  the  play,  The  Distrest  Mother,  by  Ambrose  Phillips. 

Story  of  the  friendship  of  Addison  and  Steele. 

Steele's  romance. 

Story  of  one  of  Steele's  plays 

The  story  of  Rosamond. 

Describe  Sir  Roger  as  a  sheriff. 

Describe  Sir  Roger  as  he  was  speaking  at  the  Assizes. 

Describe  the  scene  when  Sir  Roger  is  calling  on  the  widow. 

Describe  a  country  church  of  the  time,  taking  the  church  at 
Stoke  Pogis,  possibly,  as  a  model. 

Describe  a  typical  scene  at  Vauxhall.  (See  Besant :  London  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century.  Gardiner:  Students'  Hist,  of  Eng.,  v.  III.) 

Scene  in  a  London  Street.  (Ash ton:  Social  Life  in  Reign  of 
Queen  Anne.  Besant:  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.) 

Give  a  scientific  description  of  Westminster  Abbey,  drawing  plans 
on  the  blackboard. 

Describe  the  exterior  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

The  reign  of  Queen  Anne.     (Any  English  history.) 

The  Queen  Anne  period  in  literature.  Five  minute  talk. 
(English  Literature.) 

Some  contemporaries  of  Addison  and  Steele.  (English  Litera- 
ture.) 

Some  earlier  essayists.     (English  Literature.) 

Fiction  hi  the  time  of  Addison.     (English  Literature.) 


324  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Newspapers  of  the  seventeenth  century.  (Williams,  J.  B. :  His- 
tory of  English  Journalism.) 

Defoe's  journalism. 

The  Tatter. 

Coffee-houses  in  Addison's  time.  (Shelley,  H.  C.:  Inns  and 
Taverns  of  Old  London.) 

The  country  squire.  (Ditchfield,  P.  H. :  The  Old  English  Country 
Squire.) 

Hunting  customs.  (Ashton:  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen 
Anne.) 

Traveling  in  the  Queen  Anne  period.  (Ashton:  Social  Life  in  the 
Reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Besant:  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.) 

The  Theatre  in  the  tune  of  the  Spectator.  (Ashton :  Social  Life  in 
the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Besant :  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.) 

The  Whigs.     (English  histories.) 

The  Tories.     (English  histories.) 

Addison  as  a  statesman.     (Any  life  of  Addison.) 

Steele's  part  in  politics. 

Westminster  Abbey:  history,  use,  etc. 

Amusements  of  the  Spectator's  time.  (Ashton :  Social  Life  in  the 
Reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Besant:  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
Shelley,  H.  C.:  Inns  and  Taverns  of  Old  London.) 

How  the  beau  spent  his  time.  (Spectator  Papers,  Diary  of 
a  Citizen.) 

Witchcraft  in  England.  (Besant:  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. Traill :  Social  England.) 

Superstitions  of  the  tune.     (Spectator  paper  on  Superstition.) 

Gipsies  in  England.  (Ashton:  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen 
Anne.) 

The  Mohocks.     (Ashton:  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne.) 

Dress  in  the  Spectator's  tune.  (Spectator  Papers  and  books 
on  costume.) 

The  army  in  the  Spectator's  time. 

Prince  Eugene. 

The  Spectator  as  a  critic.  (Papers  on  Paradise  Lost,  The  Art  of 
Criticism,  and  on  various  plays. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       325 

The  value  of  parties. 

Present  evils  of  party  spirit. 

Sir  Roger  compared  to  Squire  Bracebridge. 

Life  of  a  country  gentleman.  Five  minute  talk.  (Macaulay: 
History  of  England,  ch.  III.  Ditchfield,  P.  H. :  Old  English  Country 
Squire.) 

The  Charterhouse  school.  (Taylor,  W.  F.:  The  Charterhouse  of 
London.) 

Magdalen  college.     (Various  books  on  Oxford.) 

The  Rambler. 

The  Idler. 

Political  papers  of  the  time.  (Williams,  J.  B. :  History  of  English 
Journalism.) 

Should  only  men  of  fine  parts  be  hanged? 

Was  Sir  Roger  really  patriotic  in  insisting  on  employing  old 
soldiers? 

Should  old  clothes  be  given  to  servants? 

Is  advancement  retarded  by  honesty  and  integrity? 

Should  political  parties  exist? 

Is  the  reading  of  famous  sermons  better  than  original  discourses? 

Was  the  widow  justified  in  her  treatment  of  Sir  Roger? 

The  modern  editorial  compared  with  "The  Spectator." 

The  open  letter  compared  with  "  The  Spectator." 

Some  magazine  essayists  of  the  latter  half  of  the  19th  century. 

Account  of  some  work  by  a  present-day  humorist.  (Butler, 
Dunne,  Ade,  etc.) 

Comparison  of  some  present-day  humorist  with  the  Spectator. 

The  work  of  some  19th  century  essayist.  (Lamb,  Hazlitt,  De 
Quincey,  Leigh  Hunt,  Macaulay,  Lockhart,  Curtis,  Warner, 
Whipple,  Stevenson,  Pater,  Lowell,  Holmes.) 

The  work  of  some  20th  century  essayist.  (Van  Dyke,  Mabie, 
Repplier,  Benson,  Howells,  Burroughs,  Chesterton,  Crothers.) 

The  method  of  "Master  Humphrey's  Clock"  (Dickens),  com- 
pared with  "The  Spectator." 

The  Spectator  of  the  "Outlook." 

Modern  subjects  for  Spectator  essays. 


326  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  clergy  in  the  eighteenth  century.     (Macaulay:  History  of 
England,  ch.  III.     Ditchfield,  P.  H.:  The  Parson.) 
The  game  laws. 

BURKE 
Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America 

Feeling  between  England  and  the  colonies,  1763-1772. 

The  Navigation  Acts. 

The  part  of  the  colonies  hi  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 

The  occasion  for  taxation  of  the  colonies. 

The  Parliamentary  view  of  representation  of  the  colonies. 

The  English  system  of  representation.     (History  of  changes.) 

The  Stamp  Act. 

The  Townshend  Acts. 

Colonial  activity. 

The  Boston  Riot. 

The  story  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party. 

The  Intolerable,  or  Coercive  Acts. 

An  account  of  some  colonial  organization. 

The  Continental  Congresses. 

Account  of  battles  of  Concord  and  Lexington. 

Constitution  of  the  British  Parliament. 

Method  of  Parliamentary  government,  compared  with  American 
system. 

How  laws  are  made  in  England. 

The  power  of  the  King. 

Recent  changes  in  powers  of  House  of  Lords. 

Some  recent  act  of  Parliament. 

Some  question  recently  of  interest  hi  English  government  or 
policy. 

The  membership  of  Parliament  now  as  compared  to  that  of 
Burke's  tune. 

Burke's  position  in  England. 

Movements  in  which  Burke  was  prominent. 

History  of  the  Home  Rule  movement  for  Ireland. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       327 

Some  Irish  statesmen. 

English  government  in  Canada;  in  India;  in  South  Africa. 

The  part  of  English  citizens  in  the  causes  of  the  Boer  War. 

Burke's  failure  to  reach  the  highest  positions. 

Some  other  literary  statesmen  in  England.  (Several  may  talk 
of  individuals.) 

Burke's  record  as  an  orator. 

Burke's  characteristics  as  an  orator. 

Burke's  friends. 

Lord  Rockingham:    personality — position — policies. 

Lord  North. 

Lord  Grenville. 

Earl  of  Chatham. 

Charles  James  Fox. 

Political  parties  of  Burke's  time. 

Political  parties  of  the  present. 

George  III:  character — policies — part  he  took  in  the  govern- 
ment. 

George  V  compared  with  George  III. 

England  had  or  had  not  a  right  to  tax  the  colonies. 

England  was  or  was  not  morally  justified  in  passing  the  Stamp 
Act. 

England  was  or  was  not  justified  hi  quartering  soldiers  among 
colonists. 

The  Bostonians  were  or  were  not  justified  hi  the  "Tea-Party." 

The  colonies  had  or  had  not  the  right  to  secede. 

The  colonies  were  or  were  not  justified  hi  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence hi  1776. 

Burke  was  or  was  not,  as  an  Englishman,  justified  in  supporting 
the  colonies. 

The  Revolution  was  or  was  not  carried  on  by  "the  rabble." 

Burke  was  or  was  not  inconsistent  in  his  views  at  different  periods. 

Burke's  plan  was  or  was  not,  in  the  light  of  following  events,  a 
wise  one. 

(References:  McMaster:  Student's  History  of  the  United  States. 
Other  American  histories.  Green:  Brief  History  of  the  English 


328  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

People.    Other  English  histories.    Morley:    Life  of  Burke.    Bage- 
hot:     The  English  Constitution.) 

CABLYLE 

Carlyle's  fitness  for  the  task  of  writing  a  life  of  Burns. 
Carlyle  as  a  typical  Scot.     (Any  Life  of  Carlyle.) 
Carlyle's  personality.  (   "      "     "         "     ) 

Carlyle  as  a  student.  (  "      "    "         "     ) 

Carlyle  as  a  teacher.  (  "      "    "         "     ) 

Carlyle  as  a  writer.  (   "      "     "         "     ) 

Carlyle's  father.  (Life    of    Carlyle,    Carlyle's    Rem- 

iniscences.) 

Carlyle's  mother.     (Any  Life  of  Carlyle,  Letters.) 
Carlyle  and  his  sister.     (Letters  to  his  youngest  Sister.    C.  T. 
Copeland,  ed.) 

Jane  Welsh  Carlyle.     (Letters  of  Mrs.  Carlyle,  Carlyle's  Rem- 
iniscences, Life  of  Carlyle.) 
Carlyle  as  a  world-teacher. 

Friendship  of  Carlyle  and  Emerson.  (Letters  of  Carlyle  and 
Emerson.) 

The  Carlyle  country.    Homes  of  Carlyle,  etc.     (Sloan,  J.  M.: 
The  Carlyle  Country.) 
The  period  in  which  Carlyle  wrote. 

Essay  on  Burns 

The  Edinburgh  Review. 

Other  Reviews  of  the  period.  (Saintsbury:  History  of  19th 
Century  Literature.) 

The  book-review  of  the  early  19th  century  compared  with  that 
of  the  present. 

Byron  as  a  poet  (Long's  or  any  other  English  Literature). 

Brief  sketch  of  Byron's  life,  in  comparison  with  Burns's. 

Lockhart  as  a  writer. 

The  present  popularity  of  Burns. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       329 

Mrs.  Dunlap  and  Burns.  (Letters  of  Burns  to  Mrs.  Dunlap,  ed. 
by  Wallace.) 

Early  Scottish  poetry.  (Chambers'  Cyclopedia  of  English  Lit- 
erature.) 

Fergusson.     (Ward:    English  Poets,  v.  III.) 

Ramsay.     (Ward:    English  Poets,  v.  III.) 

Wallace. 

Bruce. 

Burns  as  a  patriot. 

Burns  as  a  nature  poet. 

Burns  as  a  romanticist.  (Phelps,  W.  L.:  English  Romantic 
Movement.) 

Burns  as  a  satirist. 

The  lessons  of  Burns's  life. 

Carlyle's  attitude  toward  "Burns  the  Man." 

Carlyle  as  a  biographer  (as  fulfilling  the  requirements  he  ex- 
presses.) 

Should  this  essay  be  included  in  the  English  course? 

Carlyle's  style. 

A  review  of  this  essay,  for  someone  who  wants  to  know  about  it. 

Brief  reports  may  be  made  on  persons  mentioned  in  the  essay, 
as  Keats,  Homer,  Borgia,  Luther,  Defoe,  Richardson,  Dante. 

Give  an  account,  such  as  to  give  an  idea  of  the  book,  and  to 
arouse  interest  in  it,  and  express  your  own  opinion  of  one  of  the 
following,  or  some  other  biography  you  have  read. 

Macaulay:  Life  of  Addison,  Life  of  Johnson,  Essay  on  Milton. 

Lockhart:  Life  of  Scott,  Life  of  Burns. 

Southey:  Life  of  Nelson. 

Trevelyan,  G.  O. :  Life  and  Letters  of  Macaulay. 

Gaskell,  Mrs.:  Life  of  Charlotte  Bronte. 

Lang,  Andrew:  Life  of  Scott. 

Cheney,  Edna:  Life  and  Letters  of  Louisa  M.  Alcott. 

Irving:  Life  of  Goldsmith. 

Blackie,  J.  S. :  Burns. 

Garnett,  Richard :  Life  of  Milton. 

Pickard,  S.  T.:  Life  and  Letters  of  Whittier. 


330  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Froude,  J.  A. :  C&sar. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore:  Oliver  Cromwell. 

If  preferred,  autobiographies  or  essays  such  as  those  by  Repplier, 
Warner,  Curtis,  Stevenson,  Van  Dyke,  Mabie,  Lowell,  De  Quincey, 
may  be  taken  as  subjects  for  talks. 


DICKENS 

The  childhood  of  Dickens.  (Langton,  Robert:  Childhood  and 
Youth  of  Dickens.) 

Dickens'  home  life.  (Dickens,  Mamie:  My  Father  as  I  Recall 
Him.) 

Gadshill. 

An  illustrator  of  Dickens. 

Dickens  in  America. 

Dickens  as  a  lecturer. 

Dickens  as  a  letter-writer. 

Dickens  as  a  humanitarian. 

The  children  portrayed  by  Dickens. 

Some  character-types  of  Dickens. 

The  kind  of  life  Dickens  liked  to  portray. 

Dickens'  model  woman. 

Dickens'  fondness  for  dress. 

A  Child's  Ride  with  Dickens.     (Kate  Douglas  Wiggin.) 

What  Dickens  did  for  Childhood.     ("Century,"  Feb.,  1899.) 

The  London  of  Dickens.     (Miltoun :  Dickens'  London.) 

A  school  portrayed  by  Dickens.  (Dombey  and  Son,  Nicholas 
Nickkby.) 

The  schoolmaster  of  Dickens'  novels. 

The  centenary  of  Dickens. 

The  fund  for  Dickens'  descendants. 

Dickens'  place  in  literature. 

Why  I  read  Dickens. 

My  favorite  character  from  Dickens. 

Story  of  some  one  of  the  shorter  novels. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       331 


A  Tale  of  Two  Cities 

The  Bank  of  England. 

Relation  of  guardian  and  ward  in  England  in  the  18th  century. 

The  punishment  of  crime  in  England  in  the  18th  century. 

Highway  robbery  hi  England  in  the  18th  century.  (Sydney, 
W.  C.:  England  in  18th  Century.) 

Method  of  procedure  hi  trials  for  treason.  (Traill:  Social 
England.) 

The  rights  of  the  French  Manor  Lord.  (Mallet:  French  Revolu- 
tion, Ch.  I.) 

The  Feudal  system  in  France.  (Mallet:  French  Revolution, 
Ch.  I.) 

The  taxes.    (Mallet:  French  Revolution,  Ch.  I.) 

The  Bastille.     (Bingham,  D.:  The  Bastille.) 

The  destruction  of  the  Bastille.  (Carlyle:  French  Revolution, 
Bk.  V,  Ch.  VI.) 

Experience  of  some  prisoner  in  the  Bastille. 

The  States  General.     (Carlyle,  Mallet.) 

Character  sketches  of  Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV,  Louis  XVI,  Marie 
Antoinette. 

The  typical  French  peasant  of  1789. 

The  Jacobins.     (Mallet,  Carlyle.) 

The  Girondists.     (Mallet,  Carlyle.) 

The  Reign  of  Terror.  (Carlyle,  Part  III,  Bk.  IV.  Mallet, 
Ch.  VII-XII.  Elliot,  G.  D. :  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Guittotine.) 

Charlotte  Corday. 

Some  noted  men  of  the  tune. 

A  typical  trial.     (Le  Notre:  The  Tribunal  of  the  Terror.) 

A  royal  flight:  (Carlyle:  French  Revolution,  Pi.  II,  Bk.  IV, 
Ch.  III.) 

The  custom  of  accusation  by  letter  as  practiced  hi  Florence. 

The  imprisonment  of  Lafayette.     (Any  life  of  Lafayette.) 

Some  recent  finds  as  to  the  number  killed  hi  the  Revolution. 

The  Guillotine:  invention — description — explanation  of  use. 


332  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

GEORGE  ELIOT 
Silas  Marner 

Describe  the  scene  of  the  trial  of  Silas  by  lot. 

Describe  the  scene  in  the  inn  just  after  Silas  appears. 

Describe  Molly  as  she  approaches  the  Red  House. 

Describe  Mr.  Macey  as  he  sits  before  the  door. 

Describe  Nancy  as  she  sits  in  her  parlor  on  the  eventful  Sunday 
afternoon. 

Describe  the  scene  at  the  stone  pits  just  after  the  discovery  of 
Dunstan's  body. 

Describe  the  scene  hi  Silas's  cottage  at  the  time  of  the  Sunday 
meal. 

Describe  the  scene  in  Silas's  cottage  at  the  time  Godfrey  reveals 
his  relationship  to  Eppie. 

Let  the  farrier  tell  a  member  of  his  family  about  the  events  of  the 
evening. 

Let  Silas  tell  Dolly  the  story  of  Lantern  Yard,  as  she  questions. 

Let  someone  in  Lantern  Yard  tell  the  story  of  how  Silas,  the 
hitherto  irreproachable  young  man,  was  shown  guilty  of  theft. 

Let  Silas  tell  Eppie  the  story  of  the  night  when  he  found  her. 

Let  Godfrey,  after  the  refusal  of  Eppie  to  acknowledge  him,  tell 
to  Nancy  some  night  the  full  story. 

Let  Nancy  tell  Priscilla  the  story  of  how  the  effort  was  made  to 
claim  Eppie. 

Conversation  between  Dunstan  and  Godfrey,  when  Godfrey 
gives  up  money. 

Conversation  between  Molly  and  Godfrey,  when  Molly  threatens. 

Conversation  among  the  villagers  (three  or  four)  after  Silas's  loss. 

Conversation  between  Dolly  and  Ben  about  Silas's  adoption  of 
Eppie. 

Conversation  between  Nancy  and  Priscilla  after  the  ball. 

Conversation  between  the  Misses  Gunn  after  the  ball. 

Was  Nancy  right,  considering  her  ideas,  hi  refusing  to  adopt  the 
child? 

Would  Silas  have  taken  Eppie,  had  she  come  before  he  lost  his  gold? 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       333 

Would  Nancy  now  be  thought  to  have  the  essential  traits  of  a  lady? 

Were  Nancy  and  Godfrey  right  in  asking  Silas  to  give  up  Eppie? 

Was  Eppie  fitted  to  take  her  place  in  the  Red  House  as  Goolfrey's 
daughter? 

Was  Eppie  right  in  refusing  to  acknowledge  Godfrey's  claim? 

Was  Godfrey's  retribution  a  just,  sufficient  one? 

The  use  of  Dolly  Winthrop  (or  some  other  minor  character)  in 
the  story. 

Methods  of  revealing  character  in  this  novel. 

The  development  of  character  in  this  novel 

The  interrelation  of  characters. 

Preparation  for  events  in  this  novel. 

Comparison  of  Silas  Marner  to  Ivanhoe,  or  Tale  of  Two  Cities,  as 
to  interest,  or  as  to  character  development. 

Trial  by  ordeal  and  lot.     (Cheney:  English  History.} 

Silas's  religion  at  Lantern  Yard.  ("The  Dissenters."  English 
histories.) 

The  Church  of  England  service. 

Transportation  in  the  early  19th  century. 

Superstitions  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  now. 

Education  in  the  early  19th  century.  (Traill:  Social  England, 
vol.  VI.) 

The  coming  of  the  factory.     (Traill:  Social  England,  vol.  VI.) 

Weavers  hi  England.  (Traill:  Social  England.  Industrial 
histories.) 

Tell  the  story  of  the  retribution  that  came  to  Tito.     (Romola.) 

Compare  Godfrey  and  Tito. 

Trace  the  development  of  Gwendolen  Harleth's  character. 
(Daniel  Deronda). 

Story  of  the  plot  of  some  other  novel  by  George  Eliot. 

Criticism  (hi  form  of  book  review)  of  some  other  novel  of  George 
Eliot. 

Application  of  George  Eliot's  idea  of  immortality  to  her  own  work. 
(Eliot:  0,  may  I  join  the  Choir  Invisible.) 

George  Eliot  as  a  poet. 

Silas  Marner  as  a  novel  of  manners;  as  an  ethical  novel. 


334  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

HOMES 
The  Odyssey. 

The  judgment  of  Paris. 

The  story  of  the  Trojan  War. 

The  wooden  horse.     (The  JZneid,  The  Iliad.) 

Anecdote  of  how  Ulysses  was  induced  to  enter  the  war. 

The  part  of  Ulysses  in  the  Trojan  War. 

The  wrath  of  Achilles. 

The  goddess  Athene. 

The  attributes  of  Neptune. 

Some  story  of  Zeus. 

Polyphemus  and  Galatea. 

The  encounter  of  ^Bneas  and  Polyphemus.     (The  JSneid.) 

The  journey  of  ^Eneas.     (The  dBneid.) 

The  part  the  gods  played  in  the  Trojan  War.    (The  Iliad.) 

Mount  Olympus. 

The  Greek  idea  of  Hades. 

The  house  of  the  period.     (Seymour:  Greek  Life.) 

The  Homeric  conception  of  a  hero. 

The  modern  conception  of  a  hero. 

Penelope  as  a  womanly  type. 

Nausicaa  as  a  womanly  type. 

Other  descents  into  Hades.  (The  JSneid,  Dante's  Divine  Come- 
dy.) 

Craft  and  wile  in  the  story. 

Stories  of  Circe. 

Some  other  great  story  of  a  hero;  Beowulf,  Siegfried,  ^Eneas,  etc. 

What  is  meant  by  heroic  poetry? 

Was  "Homer  "Homer? 

The  justice  of  the  suitors'  punishment. 

Was  Penelope  responsible  for  their  acts? 

(Mythological  references:  Gayley:  Classic  Myths  in  Eng.  Lit.; 
Guerber:  Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome;  Bulfinch:  Age  of  Fable.) 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       335 

IRVING 

The  Sketch  Book 

Brief  sketch  of  Irving's  life. 

Description  of  a  scene  at  the  departure  of  some  ship. 

Description  of  the  scene  at  the  arrival  of  some  ship. 

Brief  account  of  the  life  of  Roscoe. 

One  minute  talk  on  the  work  of  Roscoe. 

How  Hendrick  Hudson  went  up  the  great  river. 

Description  of  the  Half-Moon. 

Brief  account  of  a  trip  up  the  Hudson. 

Description  of  Rip's  house  as  it  probably  looked  when  he  returned. 

Description  of  typical  scene  at  the  village  inn. 

Description  of  some  scene  in  the  Catskills. 

Joseph  Jefferson's  portrayal  of  Rip  van  Winkle. 

Relations  between  England  and  America  in  Irving's  tune. 

Relations  between  England  and  America  now. 

Abstract  of  some  book  on  America  by  a  European,  or  statement  of 
his  attitude. 

Growth  of  landscape  gardening  in  America. 

Some  great  American  parks. 

Description  of  scene  in  some  American  park. 

Description  of  Windsor  Castle. 

Story  of  Chaucer's  Knight's  Tale. 

James  I  as  an  author. 

The  scene  outside  some  country  church  with  which  you  are 
familiar. 

The  English  Sunday  compared  with  the  American  Sunday,  in 
cities. 

Character  sketch  of  Falstaff. 

Description  of  typical  scene  hi  the  Boar's  Head  Tavern  in  Shak- 
spere's  tune.  (King  Henry  IV,  Part  I,  Act  II,  scene  iv.) 

Some  famous  Southwark  inns.  (Shelley,  H.  C. :  Inns  and  Taverns 
of  Old  London.) 

Anecdotes  of  Westminster  school.  (Markham,  F.:  Recollections 
of  a  Town-boy  at  Westminster.) 


336  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  Doomsday  Book. 

Why  Spenser  is  remembered. 

The  reason  why  the  books  from  the  press  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
are  sought. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney's  Arcadia.  (What  the  book  is  about,  what  made 
it  popular.) 

What  Lyly  stands  for  in  English  Literature.  (Any  English 
Literature.) 

What  Chaucer  stands  for  in  English  Literature.  (Any  English 
Literature.) 

Some  books  of  a  generation  ago  that  are  now  forgotten. 

Some  old  English  funeral  customs. 

History  of  Westminster  Abbey.  (Brooks-Hunt,  Violet:  West- 
minster Abbey.  Bradley,  E.  T.:  Annals  of  Westminster  Abbey.) 

Plan  of  the  Abbey  (illustrated  by  drawing  at  board). 

Description  of  some  tomb  hi  the  Abbey.  (See  references 
above.) 

America's  Hall  of  Fame. 

When  the  celebration  of  Christmas  was  stopped. 

The  German  Christmas. 

Why  we  have  Christmas  trees.     (The  Book  of  Christmas.) 

Revival  of  the  use  of  holly. 

Comparison  of  old  English  customs  and  American  customs  at 
Christmas. 

Evil  of  our  methods  of  celebration. 

An  ideal  Christmas. 

The  spirit  of  Christmas. 

The  American  stagecoach. 

The  British  public  school.     (Tom  Brown  at  Rugby.) 

The  position  of  the  English  squire  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
(Macaulay:  History  of  England,  v.  I,  ch.  III.  Ditchfield,  P.  H.: 
The  Old  English  Country  Squire.) 

An  old  English  manor.  (Walker:  Essentials  of  English  History, 
p.  104.) 

A  country  estate  in  America. 

Description  of  scene  hi  the  church  on  Christmas  day 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       337 

Some  American  literary  shrines  (Wilson,  R.  R. :  New  England  in 
Letters) : 

Sunnyside;  Longfellow's  home,  Cambridge;  Whittier's  home, 
East  Haverhill;  Concord,  Mass.;  Salem,  Mass. 

Penn's  treaty  with  the  Indians. 

Some  instance  of  injustice  to  the  Indian.     (Jackson,  H.  H.:  A 
Century  of  Dishonor.)  . 

The  Indian  on  the  Reservation. 

The  Indian  at  school. 

As  an  Indian  sees  an  Indian.     (Eastman,  Charles:  The  Soul  of 
the  Indian.) 

Cooper's  attitude  toward  the  Indian. 

Character  sketch  of  Chingachgook.  (Cooper:  Last  of  the  Mohicans.) 

Story  of  the  Seminole  War,  or  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

John  Bull  compared  to  Uncle  Sam,  or  some  other  national  figure. 

The  charm  of  The  Compleat  Angler. 

A  modern  angler's  joys.     (Van  Dyke,  Henry:  Fisherman's  Luck.) 

Account  of  an  angling  expedition. 

Description  of  scene  in  some  country  schoolhouse. 

Sleepy  Hollow  as  it  is  to-day. 

Story  of  one  of  the  Tales  of  a  Traveller. 

Anecdote  from  Knickerbocker's  History. 

Anecdote  of  Irving. 

Description  of  Sunnyside. 

Irving  as  a  patriotic  writer. 

Irving  as  a  humorist. 

Irving  as  a  writer  of  travel  sketches. 

Irving  as  a  biographer. 

Irving  as  a  short-story  writer. 

Irving  as  a  diplomat. 

LINCOLN 

Description  of  Lincoln's  birthplace. 

Lincoln's  father. 

His  stepmother. 

Lincoln  and  his  little  sister. 


338  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

The  boy  as  a  speechmaker. 

Lincoln  as  a  rail-splitter. 

Life  in  a  country  store. 

Life  on  the  river. 

The  Black  Hawk  War. 

How  Lincoln  studied. 

Lincoln  as  a  lawyer. 

Lincoln  as  a  politician. 

Lincoln's  early  attitude  toward  slavery. 

The  Lincoln-Douglas  debates. 

Career  of  Douglas. 

The  Dred  Scott  Decision. 

The  Missouri  Compromise. 

The  "underground  railway." 

The  beginning  of  slavery  in  America. 

The  early  status  of  slavery  hi  the  North. 

The  adaptability  of  slavery  to  North  and  South. 

Rise  of  the  Abolition  movement  hi  the  North. 

The  great  Abolition  leaders. 

The  story  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 

Influence  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 

The  story  of  Dred. 

The  convention  which  nominated  Lincoln. 

The  circumstances  of  the  Cooper  Union  speech. 

Description  of  Lincoln  as  he  appeared  to  a  New  York  audience. 

Lincoln  as  a  campaigner. 

The  issues  of  the  campaign  of  1860. 

The  rise  of  the  Republican  party. 

Lincoln's  journey  to  Washington. 

The  Washington  of  1861. 

Lincoln's  cabinet. 

Lincoln  as  a  story  teller. 

One  of  Lincoln's  stories. 

Lincoln's  tender  heart. 

Tell  the  story  of  The  Perfect  Tribute.     (Andrews.) 

Reasons  for  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        339 

Reception  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 

The  close  of  the  war. 

The  assassination  of  Lincoln. 

Account  of  the  Continental  Congress  held  in  Independence  Hall. 

Description  of  Independence  Hall. 

The  Signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Account  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg. 

Significance  of  the  battle. 

Description  of  the  battlefield.     (If  any  student  has  visited  it.) 

Character  sketch  of  Lee. 

Lee's  part  in  the  Civil  War. 

Account  of  some  other  important  battle  in  the  Civil  War. 

How  Lincoln  wrote  the  Gettysburg  speech. 

Brief  summary  of  Edward  Everett's  speech. 

Celebration  of  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg, 
1913. 

Brief  sketch  of  Greeley's  life. 

Character  sketch  of  Greeley. 

Greeley's  public  career. 

Greeley  as  an  editor. 

The  "Tribune"  in  Greeley's  time. 

Some  editor  contemporary  with  Greeley. 

Some  anecdote  of  Greeley. 

The  presidential  campaign  of  1864. 

Lincoln's  opponent,  McClellan. 

The  opponents  of  Lincoln's  policy,  hi  the  North. 

The  religion  of  Lincoln. 

The  personality  of  Grant. 

Grant  as  a  soldier. 

The  siege  of  Vicksburg. 

Was  slavery  the  real  cause  of  the  Civil  War? 

Was  slavery  beneficial  to  the  South? 

Was  Lincoln  justified  in  freeing  the  slaves  when  he  did? 

Should  the  owners  have  been  paid  for  their  slaves? 

Were  the  people  of  the  North  justified  in  aiding  the  escape  of 
slaves? 


340  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Was  Greeley  justified  in  becoming  a  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency on  a  third  ticket  in  1872? 

Was  McClellan  justified  in  becoming  a  candidate  against  Lin- 
coln in  1864? 

Were  the  terms  of  surrender  of  Lee's  army  in  1865  just? 

Was  Lincoln  fitted  to  bring  about  reconstruction? 

Should  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  be  granted  a  dollar  a  day  pen- 
sion? 

Should  all  soldiers  have  burial  in  national  cemeteries? 

Should  a  distinguished  military  career  (such  as  Grant's)  be  a 
reason  for  nominating  him  for  the  presidency? 

(References:  Tarbell,  Ida  M.:  Early  Life  of  Lincoln.  Nicolay 
and  Hay:  Life  of  Lincoln.  Singmaster,  Elsie:  Gettysburg.  Linn: 
Horace  Greeley.  American  histories.) 

MACAULAT 
Essays  on  Clive  and  Hastings 

What  is  meant  by  "India"? 

The  East  India  company:  beginnings,  progress,  accomplishments, 
dissolution. 

How  India  became  part  of  the  British  Empire. 

The  present  government  of  India.  Various  phases:  viceroy, 
governors,  councils,  police  system,  etc. 

The  Sepoy  rebellion. 

The  siege  of  Lucknow. 

The  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta. 

Description  of  an  Indian  temple.     (Stoddard's  Lectures.) 

Description  of  the  Taj  Mahal.     (Stoddard's  Lectures.) 

The  Grand  Mogul. 

The  religions  current  in  India.     (Encyclopedias.) 

The  position  of  women  in  India  a  hundred  years  ago. 

European  education  for  India. 

The  state  of  some  native  prince. 

Was  Clive  justified  in  taking  money  from  Meer  Jaffier? 

Was  Clive  justified  in  the  measures  he  used  against  Dupleix? 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        341 

Should  Clive  have  been  ejected  from  Parliament? 

Was  Clive  justified  in  his  deceptions  in  dealing  with  Omichund? 

Was  Clive  wise  in  going  back  to  India  in  1765? 

Was  Hastings  justified  hi  obtaining,  by  whatever  means,  the 
revenue  demanded  by  the  company? 

Should  the  English  army  have  been  lent  to  the  Nabob  Vizier? 

Was  Francis  the  author  of  the  Junius  letters? 

Was  Hastings  justified  in  his  treatment  of  Cheyte  Sing? 

Has  English  rule  benefited  India? 

Is  India  capable  of  Home  Rule? 

Burke's  part  in  the  Hastings  affair. 

The  story  of  Colonel  Newcome,  from  The  Newcomes. 

Macaulay's  service  in  India. 

Macaulay  as  a  letter-writer.  (Trevelyan,  G.  O.:  Life  and  Letters 
of  Lord  Macaulay.) 

Macaulay  as  a  reader. 

Macaulay  as  a  speaker. 

Macaulay  as  an  essayist. 

King  George's  visit  to  India. 

The  Durbar  of  1912. 

The  "white  man's  burden." 

Review  of  Kim,  by  Rudyard  Kipling. 

Story  of  one  of  the  Plain  Tales  from  the  Hills. 

Soldiers  Three. 

MILTON 
Minor  Poems 

Description  of  Windsor  Castle,  seen  among  trees.  (From 
pictures.) 

Story  of  tournament.     (From  Ivanhoe.) 

Jonson  as  the  learned  playwright. 

Story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.  (Gayley:  Classic  Myths. 
Guerber:  Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Bulfinch:  Age  of  Fable.) 

Story  of  Saturn's  reign. 

The  Muses. 


342  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Residence  of  the  gods  on  Olympus. 

Story  of  Philomel. 

History  of  the  curfew. 

Story  of  Troy. 

Squier's  tale.     (Chaucer.) 

Description  of  King's  College  chapel.  (From  pictures,  in  books 
on  Cambridge.) 

Description  of  some  "storied  window." 

Story  of  Circe.     (Odyssey,  or  any  mythology.) 

Experience  of  Ulysses,  or  of  ^Eneas,  with  the  Sirens,  Scylla,  and 
Chary bdis.  (Odyssey,  Iliad.) 

Story  of  Pan. 

Myth  of  the  Golden  Apples. 

Story  of  Cupid  and  Psyche. 

How  Perseus  slew  the  Gorgon.    (Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book.) 

Story  of  Thetis. 

Cambridge  University.  (Johnson,  R.  B.:  Cambridge  Colleges. 
Clark,  J.  W.:  Cambridge.) 

Cambridge  as  a  nurse  of  poets. 

Edward  King. 

Milton's  education.  (Any  biography  of  Milton.  Jenks,  Tudor: 
In  the  Days  of  MiUon.) 

"The  lady  of  Christ's." 

Milton's  training  as  it  influenced  his  poetry. 

Life  at  Horton.    (Mead,  Lucia:  Milton's  England.) 

Influence  of  life  at  Horton  on  work. 

Milton's  love  for  music. 

Milton  hi  Italy. 

Friendship  for  Diodati. 

Cyriac  Skinner. 

Henry  Lawes. 

Inigo  Jones. 

Circumstances  under  which  Comus  was  presented.  (Minor 
Poems,  ed.  by  A.  P.  Walker,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  p.  89.) 

The  Puritan  attitude  toward  plays. 

Amusements  of  the  Cavaliers. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       343 

Home  life  of  Puritans  and  Cavaliers.  (Godfrey:  Domestic  Life 
in  England.  Jenks,  Tudor:  In  the  Days  of  Milton.) 

Dress  of  Puritans  and  Cavaliers.  (Heritage  of  Dress,  or  any 
complete  history  of  costume.) 

Political  ideas  of  Puritans  and  Cavaliers.  (English  histories. 
Macaulay:  Essay  on  Milton.) 

Religious  ideas  of  Puritans  and  Cavaliers.  (Macaulay:  History 
of  England.  Long:  English  Literature.) 

Charles  I — Conflict  with  Parliament.  (Macaulay:  History  of 
England.) 

Prose  writers  of  the  period.     (English  Literature.) 

Poets  of  the  Cavaliers.     (English  Literature.) 

Work  of  John  Bunyan. 

Milton's  public  work.     (Macaulay:  Essay  on  Milton.) 

Milton  as  a  controversialist. 

Milton  as  a  religious  writer. 

Milton  as  a  combination  of  Renaissance  and  Puritan  types. 

History  of  the  masque  in  English  literature.  (Evans,  H.  A.: 
English  Masques.) 

Account  of  some  other  masque.  (Evans,  H.  A.:  English 
Masques.) 

Account  of  each  of  the  following:  Paradise  Lost,  Paradise  Regained, 
Samson  Agonistes,  Education,  Areopagitica. 

Is  the  term  "  Minor  Poems  "  justified? 

Was  Milton  (considering  the  Areopagitica)  justified  in  acting  as 
censor? 

Was  Milton  justified  hi  defending  the  execution  of  Charles? 

Was  Milton  justified  in  the  abusiveness  of  his  controversial 
pamphlets? 

Was  Milton  right  in  sacrificing  his  sight  in  the  cause  of  defending 
the  acts  of  Parliament? 

Did  Milton's  poetical  work  suffer  because  of  his  service  to  the 
State? 

Was  the  Puritan  attitude  toward  plays  justifiable? 

Was  the  typical  Puritan  a  better  neighbor  (or  household  com- 
panion) than  the  Cavalier? 


344  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Was  Milton  to  blame  for  his  unhappy  life  with  his  daughters? 
Do  L'AUegro  and  //  Penseroso  represent  the  same  man,  hi  different 
moods? 

PALGRAVE 
The  Golden  Treasury 

Why  such  a  collection  is  valuable. 

An  account  of  some  anthology,  or  of  the  Oxford  Book  of  Verse, 
as  compared  with  The  Golden  Treasury. 

Should  such  a  book  be  used  for  study  in  the  high  school  English 
course? 

Forms  of  poetry:  Epic,  Lyric,  Dramatic,  Didactic. 

The  nineteenth  century  types  of  poetry.  (Any  English  Liter- 
ature.) 

The  sonnet  form. 

Wyatt,  the  introducer  of  the  sonnet. 

The  sonnet  in  the  Elizabethan  age. 

The  sonnet  hi  the  Romantic  period. 

Wordsworth  as  a  nature  poet. 

Wordsworth's  idea  of  poetic  diction.    (Preface  to  Lyrical  Ballads.) 

Wordsworth  hi  France. 

Story  of  Peter  Bett  or  some  other  poem. 

Wordsworth's  friendships.     (Rannie:  Wordsworth  and  His  Circle.} 

The  interest  of  the  Lake  Country  for  students  of  English  liter- 
ature. (Rawnsley:  Literary  Associations  of  the  English  Lakes.) 

What  the  Lake  Country  is  like.  (Johnson,  C.:  Among  English 
Hedgerows.  Bradley,  A.  G. :  Highways  and  Byways  in  the  Lake  Dis- 
trict. Lang,  A.:  Poets' Country.  Palmer,  W.  T. :  The  English  Lakes.) 

The  beginnings  of  the  Romantic  Movement.  (Phelps,  W.  L.: 
English  Romantic  Movement.) 

What  the  Romantic  Movement  means  hi  English  Literature. 

Biographical  sketch  of  Keats. 

Story  of  some  longer  poem  of  Keats. 

Biographic  sketch  of  Shelley. 

Shelley  in  Italy.     (McMahon,  A.  B. :  With  Shelley  in  Italy.) 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       345 

Comparison  of  the  ideas  of  liberty,  of  Shelley,  Keats,  and  Byron. 

Nature  in  the  Romantic  poetry. 

Nature  in  the  poetry  of  the  18th  century. 

The  use  of  the  heroic  couplet. 

Poetic  form  of  the  Romantic  movement  as  compared  to  that  of 
the  18th  century-  (Phelps,  W.  L. :  English  Romantic  Movement.) 

Scottish  poetry  of  The  Golden  Treasury. 

Patriotism  in  the  poems  in  The  Golden  Treasury. 

The  supernatural  element  hi  The  Golden  Treasury. 

The  musical  quality  in  some  of  the  poems. 

Romanticism  hi  the  poetry  of  Scott. 

Melancholy  in  the  poems  of  Gray  and  others. 

The  nightingale  as  a  subject  of  verse. 

The  lark  as  a  subject  of  verse. 

Blake  as  an  artist. 

"Minor  Poems" — meaning  of  term,  significance  of  work. 

"Popular  Poetry." 

The  poems  you  like  best. 

Why  you  like  poetry,  or  do  not  care  for  it. 

Why  poetry  is  such  an  important  part  of  literature. 

The  poetry  of  to-day  as  compared  with  that  of  The  Golden 
Treasury.  (Note  magazine  poetry,  and  small  volumes  published.) 

PARKMAN 
The  Oregon  Trail 

The  American  Fur  Company. 

Emigrant  trains — wagons,  outfits. 

The  American  guide  as  a  type. 

Indian  war  methods. 

The  passing  of  the  buffalo. 

Marcus  L.  Whitman. 

The  Oregon  Expedition. 

Exploration  to-day. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California.     ("The  Century,"  1890-92.) 

The  Forty-Niners.     ("The  Century,"  1890-92.) 


346  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

A  Journey  over  the  Rockies  sixty  years  ago.  ("The  Century," 
1890-92.) 

How  Oregon  was  won. 

Steps  in  the  development  of  Oregon. 

Oregon  to-day. 

What  the  great  Northwest  means  to  the  nation. 

"Go  west,  young  man,  go  west!" 

On  board  an  observation  train. 

What  the  Panama  Canal  means  to  Oregon. 

Brief  review  of  some  other  book  by  Parkman. 

Brief  review  of  The  Winning  of  the  West,  by  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Brief  review  of  Boots  and  Saddles,  by  Elizabeth  Custer. 

Brief  review  of  Following  the  Guidon,  by  Elizabeth  Custer. 

Brief  review  of  Tenting  on  the  Plains,  by  Elizabeth  Custer. 

Brief  review  of  The  Boy  Pathfinder,  a  story  of  the  Oregon  Trail, 
by  W.  C.  Sprague. 

Brief  review  of  Pathfinders  of  the  West,  or  of  Conquest  of  the  Great 
Northwest,  by  Agnes  C.  Laut. 

(These  should  be  assigned  only  if  the  books  have  been  read  as 
supplementary  reading  by  some  members  of  the  class.) 

SCOTT 
Ivanhoe 

Let  Rowena  give  Elgitha  an  account  of  the  tournament,  Elgitha 
asking  questions  and  making  comments  with  the  freedom  of  a  favor- 
ite. 

Let  Rowena  give  Edith  an  account  of  her  experiences  as  a 
captive. 

Let  Isaac  give  Rebecca  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Rotherwood. 

Let  Isaac  and  Kirjath  Jairam  talk  over  the  probability  of  the 
knight's  returning  the  horse.  Let  Isaac  tell  some  of  his  experiences, 
giving  reasons  for  trusting  the  knight,  though  Kirjath  gives  reasons 
against. 

Let  Locksley  tell  one  of  his  followers  about  the  tournament,  with 
questions  and  comments  from  the  hearer. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        347 

Let  Richard  tell  Ivanhoe  how  he  escaped  from  prison  and  reached 
England. 

Let  John  and  two  of  his  followers  make  plans  against  Richard. 

Let  Richard  and  Ivanhoe  discuss,  on  the  way  to  Athelstane's 
funeral,  the  possibility  of  Cedric's  forgiving  Ivanhoe.  Ivanhoe 
may  introduce  some  narrative  to  show  his  father's  character. 

Let  Locksley  and  several  of  his  followers  discuss  Richard. 

Let  Rowena  and  Ivanhoe  tell  each  other  about  experiences  dur- 
ing their  separation. 

Let  Rebecca  tell  her  father  her  efforts  to  obtain  a  champion. 

The  story  of  Thackeray's  continuation  of  Ivanhoe.  Christmas 
Books. 

The  story  of  the  Conquest.     (English  History.) 

The  battle  of  Hastings.     (English  History.) 

Swine  as  property. 

The  change  of  ownership.  (Traill:  Social  England,  I,  240  ff. 
Old  edition.) 

Houses  of  the  period.     (Traill:  Social  England,  I.  215  ff.) 

Story  of  a  real  tournament.     (Froissart's  Chronicles.) 

A  tournament  for  a  lady's  hand.  (Story  of  Melette,  from  Belt 
and  Spur.) 

A  palmer's  customs. 

Some  sport  of  our  day  compared  to  the  tournament. 

Account  of  a  polo  game  witnessed  by  some  member  of  the  class. 

Description  of  a  suit  of  armor.  (From  pictures  or  from  a  suit 
in  some  museum.  Ashdown,  C.  H.:  Arms  and  Armor.) 

A  real  Saxon  castle.  (Smith,  H.  E..  The  History  of  Conisborough 
Castle.  MacKenzie,  J.  D. :  Castles  of  England.) 

A  real  Norman  castle.  (Clark,  G.  T.:  Mediaeval  Military  Archi- 
tecture. Armitage,  Ella  S. :  The  Early  Norman  Castles.) 

Story  of  the  Crusade  hi  which  Richard  had  a  part.  (Histories. 
Archer,  T.  A. :  Crusade  of  Richard  I.) 

Some  story  of  a  Crusade.  (Archer  and  Kingsford:  The  Crusades. 
Church,  A.  J.:  The  Crusaders.  Kelman,  J.  H.:  Stories  from  the 
Crusades.  Crawford,  Marion:  Via  Crucis.) 

Norman  officials.    (English  History.) 


348  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Origin  of  the  Knights  Templars.     (Encyclopedias.) 

The  real  Richard.    The  real  John.     (English  histories.) 

The  practice  of  archery.  (Strutt,  Joseph:  Sports  and  Pastimes, 
bk.  II,  ch.  I.  Encyclopedias.) 

The  position  of  the  thane.  (Traill:  Social  England,  I.  See  in- 
dex.) 

The  thrall. 

The  professional  fool. 

The  Jew  in  England  hi  the  tune  of  John.  (Jacobs,  Joseph:  The 
Jews  of  Angevin  England.  Milman:  History  of  the  Jews.) 

The  training  of  a  knight.     (Archer  and  Kingsford:  The  Crusades.) 

Robin.  Hood:  Character;  manner  of  life;  practices;  followers. 
(Gilliat  E.:  Forest  Outlaws.  Pyle,  Howard:  Merry  Adventures  of 
Robin  Hood.  Tappan,  M.:  Robin  Hood:  His  Book.  Finnemore, 
John:  Story  of  Robin  Hood  and  His  Merry  Men.) 

Stories  of  some  of  the  Robin  Hood  ballads.     (Any  ballad  book.) 

Description  of  scenes  in  Sherwood  Forest.  (Rodgers,  Joseph:  The 
Scenery  of  Sherwood  Forest,  with  account  of  some  eminent  people 
once  residing  there.) 

Trial  by  champion. 

Trial  for  witchcraft.  (Scott,  Walter:  Letters  on  Demonology  and 
Witchcraft.) 

The  real  friars  of  Ivanhoe's  time.  (Jessup:  Coming  of  the  Friars. 
Traill:  Social  England,  I.) 

The  duties  of  a  squire.  (Numerous  instances  in  Froissart's 
Chronicles.  Wright:  Homes.) 

Scott's  idea  of  a  hero. 

Present  idea  of  a  hero. 

SHAKSPERE 

Description  of  Stratford.     (Lee:  Stratford  on  Avon.) 
Description  of  Shakspere's  birthplace.     (Ward:  Shakspere's  Town 
and  Times.) 
Trinity  Church. 

The  Grammar  School  at  Stratford. 
An  anecdote  of  Shakspere's  youth. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       349 

A  London  street  in  Shakspere's  time.  (Stephenson,  H.:  Shak- 
spere's  London.) 

The  reception  of  Queen  Elizabeth  at  Kenilworth. 

Boy-players  in  Elizabeth's  time. 

The  London  theaters  of  Shakspere's  tune. 

The  Shaksperean  stage.  (Albright,  Victor:  The  Shaksperean 
Stage.  Lawrence,  W.  J.:  The  Elizabethan  Playhouse.) 

Scenery  in  Shakspere's  tune. 

Shakspere's  contemporaries. 

The  sonneteers. 

The  novel  in  Shakspere's  tune. 

Miracle  plays.  (Pollard:  Mirade  Plays.  Spencer,  M.  Lyle: 
Corpus  Christi  Pageants  in  England.) 

The  Morality  plays.  (Manly:  Specimens  of  Pre-Shaksperean 
Drama.) 

Strolling  players.     (Matthews,  B. :  Development  of  the  Drama.) 

The  first  English  comedy — Ralph  Roister  Doister. 

The  first  English  tragedy— Gorboduc. 

The  tragedy  of  blood.     (Symonds:  Predecessors  of  Shakspere.) 

Shakspere  as  a  conservator  of  the  English  language. 

The  popularity  of  Shakspere  to-day. 

The  eighteenth  century  opinion  of  Shakspere. 

The  discovery  of  Shakspere  hi  Germany. 

Shakspere  the  teacher. 

Julius  Ccesar 

Shakspere's  use  of  his  sources. 

Shakspere's  portrayal  of  Caesar. 

Use  of  Roman  history  hi  other  plays. 

Synopsis  of  Coriolanus. 

Character  sketch  of  Coriolanus. 

The  Antony  of  Julius  Ccesar  compared  with  the  Antony  of  a 
later  play. 

Methods  of  revealing  character  in  this  play. 

Methods  of  revealing  character  in  a  play  as  compared  with  a 
novel. 


350  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Shakspere's  use  of  English  history  in  plays. 

The  use  of  history  in  some  modern  play.  (Fitch:  Nathan  Hale. 
Parker:  Disraeli.  Bulwer-Lytton :  Richelieu.) 

Julius  Ccesar  as  a  tragedy. 

The  use  of  the  supernatural  in  the  play. 

Shakspere's  use  of  the  mob.     (See  also  Henry  VI  and  Coriolanus.} 

The  unity  of  the  play. 

The  naming  of  the  play. 

The  hero  of  the  play. 

The  advisability  of  having  the  ghost  visibly  represented  on  the 
stage. 

The  respective  responsibility  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  for  the 
assassination. 

Comparison  of  the  assassination  of  Caesar  with  the  assassination 
of  Lincoln,  Garfield,  McKinley,  or  the  attempted  assassination  of 
Roosevelt. 

Comparison  of  the  ideas  of  the  conspirators  with  those  of  anarch- 
ists and  nihilists  of  the  present  as  to  methods. 

Was  Antony  sincere  in  his  funeral  oration? 

Comparison  of  Brutus  and  Antony. 

Comparison  of  Brutus  and  Caesar. 

Comparison  of  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Was  Brutus  justified,  in  your  opinion,  in  his  act? 

The  Merchant  of  Venice 

Describe  the  appearance  of  some  character  in  the  play,  as  you 
have  seen  him  portrayed  on  the  stage,  or  as  you  imagine  him. 

Describe  some  scene  from  the  play,  as  you  have  seen  it  or  would 
stage  it. 

Tell  the  story  of  the  whole  play. 

Tell  the  story  of  each  plot. 

Let  Bassanio  give  Antonio  an  account  of  his  first  visit  to  Belmont, 
in  which  he  describes  Portia  and  her  home,  and  gives  an  idea  of 
her  personality. 

Taking  the  part  of  Shylock,  tell  the  story  of  some  transaction 
which  Antonio  foiled. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       351 

Taking  the  part  of  Antonio,  tell  the  story  of  the  same,  as  above. 

In  the  person  of  Jessica,  tell  the  story  of  her  courtship  and  elope- 
ment, to  Portia  or  Nerissa. 

In  the  part  of  Lorenzo,  tell  it  to  Antonio,  after  the  happy  out- 
come. 

As  Portia,  tell  the  story  of  her  journey  to  Venice  and  her  part  in 
the  trial. 

Tell  the  story  of  The  Jew  of  Malta,  by  Marlowe. 

Compare  the  two  plays. 

Compare  Barabbas  and  Shylock. 

Compare  Isaac  of  York  and  Shylock. 

Compare  Portia  and  Beatrice,  or  Rosalind. 

Let  Shylock  and  an  officer  talk,  Shylock  giving  reasons  for  ar- 
resting Antonio,  and  the  other  trying  to  dissuade  him. 

Let  Portia  and  Nerissa  argue  the  keeping  of  the  father's  will. 

Let  Lorenzo  and  Jessica  talk  over  the  proposed  elopement, 
Lorenzo  pleading  and  overcoming  objections. 

Conversation  between  Arragon  and  Morocco,  years  afterward. 

Let  Bassanio  and  Antonio  talk  over  the  signing  of  the  bond. 

Let  three  on  each  side  discuss  the  justification  of  Jessica. 

Let  three  on  each  side  discuss  the  justice  of  the  verdict. 

The  sources  of  the  play. 

Macbeth 

Shakspere's  use  of  history. 

Andrew  Wyntoun's  Macbeth.    Original  Chronicles  of  Scotland. 

Holinshed's  Chronicles. 

Conversation  between  Macbeth  and  some  lord  over  the  chances 
of  the  crown  for  him,  before  the  prophecy. 

Conversation  of  Macbeth  and  Lady  Macbeth,  to  which  she  refers, 
"Had  I  so  sworn  as  you " 

Address  of  Malcolm  or  Macduff  to  soldiers. 

Report  of  spy  to  Macbeth. 

Conversation  of  two  Scotch  lords  over  the  flight  of  Macduff  to 
England. 

Conversation  between  lords,  about  Macbeth's  tyranny. 


352  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Discussion  among  several  soldiers  over  leaving  Macbeth's  forces 
to  join  Malcolm's. 

Had  Macbeth  fallen  before  the  play  opens? 

Was  Macbeth  more  guilty  than  Lady  Macbeth? 

Did  Banquo  have  any  knowledge  of  Macbeth's  intentions,  before 
the  murder? 

Is  the  theory  of  Macbeth  being  the  third  murderer  tenable? 

Should  the  ghost  be  visibly  represented? 

Should  the  witch  scenes  be  represented  for  a  modern  audience? 

Were  Malcolm  and  Donalbain  wise  to  flee? 

Should  Macduff  have  gone  to  England? 

Was  Lady  Macbeth  a  "fiend-like  queen"? 

Should  the  play  be  produced  with  modern  scenery? 

Was  Macbeth  a  victim  of  Fate? 

Is  Duncan  a  kingly  figure  in  the  play? 

STEVENSON 

Stevenson  as  a  poet. 

Stevenson  as  a  romancer. 

Stevenson  as  a  letter-writer. 

Anecdote  of  Stevenson.     (Low,  Will  H.:  Reminiscences.) 

St.  Gaudens  and  Stevenson.     (Low,  Will  H.:  Reminiscences.) 

Stevenson  and  the  Samoans.     (Moore:  With  Stevenson  in  Samoa.) 

The  personality  of  Stevenson  as  revealed  in  his  writings. 

Stevenson  as  an  essayist. 

The  place  of  Stevenson  in  literature. 

Stevenson's  fight  for  life. 

Treasure  Island 

The  story  of  Captain  Kidd. 

A  search  for  buried  treasure. 

The  age  of  pirates. 

What  is  a  romance? 

Some  other  writers  of  romance. 

The  story  of  Kidnapped. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       353 

The  story  of  David  Balfour. 

The  story  of  The  Master  of  Ballantrae. 

Incidents  from  some  of  these  novels. 

The  double  personality.     (Dr.  Jekyl  and  Mr.  Hyde.) 

Travels  with  a  Donkey  and  Inland  Voyage 

Description  of  Stevenson  and  Modestine  in  the  rain. 

Monastier.     The  Studio,  Winter  number,  1896-7. 

Description  of  an  inn  scene. 

An  Eskimo  sleeping  bag. 

Account  of  Maria.     (Sterne:  Sentimental  Journey.) 

Account  of  some  monastery  known  to  travelers. 

Stevenson's  religious  differences  with  his  parents. 

Religious  persecutions  in  Bohemia  hi  the  days  of  Huss. 

The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

The  benefits  of  travel  such  as  Stevenson's. 

Stevenson's  humor. 

Stevenson's  love  of  nature. 

Stevenson's  tolerance. 

Stevenson's  romance.     (Meeting  future  wife.) 

Camping  at  Silverado.     (The  Silverado  Squatters.) 

The  boat  that  was  not  used.  (Low  W.  H.:  Reminiscences, 
"Scribner's,"  Sept.,  1908.) 

Stevenson's  arrest.     (See  Across  the  Plains.) 

Stevenson's  attitude  toward  children. 

Account  of  Through  France  and  Belgium  by  River  and  Canal, 
by  W.  J.  C.  Moehs. 

Stevenson's  route,  illustrated  at  board  by  map. 

Account' of  Cevennes.     (Hammerton:  In  the  Track  of  Stevenson.) 

Account  of  some  scene  from  Holland  and  Its  People,  or  from  A 
Wanderer  in  Holland. 

Account  of  some  experience,  or  the  plan  of  travel,  or  the  purpose, 
from  the  following:  Pennell,  E.  R.:  In  Romany  Land.  Taylor, 
Bayard:  Days  Afoot.  Warner:  A  Howadji  on  the  Nile.  Smith, 
F.  H.:  A  White  Umbrella  in  Mexico.  Williamson:  Through  France 
in  a  Motor  Car. 


354  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

TENNYSON 

Idylls  of  the  King 

Who  Arthur  was.  (Schofield:  English  Literature,  from  Norman 
Conquest  to  Chaucer,  pp.  59-60.  Maynadier:  The  Arthur  of  the 
English  Poets,  pp.  6-33.) 

The  story  of  the  Round  Table.     (Maynadier:  pp.  50-57.) 

The  Arthurian  stories  of  France.     (Schofield,  Maynadier.) 

The  Arthurian  stories  of  England.     (Schofield,  Maynadier.) 

The  Grail.  (Schofield;  Maynadier;  Nutt,  Alfred:  Legend  of  the 
Grail.) 

Launcelot.     (Schofield,  Maynadier.) 

Merlin.     (Schofield,  Maynadier.) 

Le  Morte  d'Arthur  (Malory).  What  it  was,  use  of  legends,  etc. 
(Any  English  Literature,  Schofield,  Maynadier.) 

The  Mabinogion.  (Schofield,  Maynadier.  Translation  by  Lady 
Charlotte  Guest.) 

The  story  of  Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight.  (Various  transla- 
tions.) 

Sir  Percival's  youth.     (Lays  of  Marie  de  France.) 

Account  of  a  tournament.     (Froissart's  Chronicles.) 

Some  knightly  orders  of  reality.  (See  Knights  of  the  Garter, 
Knights  Templars,  etc.) 

What  knighthood  meant  in  the  Middle  Ages.  (Introduction  to 
Globe  edition  of  Malory's  Le  Morte  d'Arthur.  Macmillan  Co.) 

What  knighthood  means  now. 

Tennyson's  emphasis  compared  with  Malory's. 

Some  other  19th  century  versions.  (Maynadier:  The  Arthur  of 
the  English  Poets.) 

Chaucer's  Knight.     (Prologue  and  Knight's  Tale.) 

Tell  the  story  of  some  Idyll  not  read  in  class. 

Compare  Galahad's  quest  of  the  Grail  with  Sir  Launfal's. 

Describe  Abbey's  pictures  of  the  quest.  (Boston  Museum, 
reproductions  in  Copley  Prints,  and  New  York  Times  Supplement, 
March  24,  1912.) 

Symbolism  in  the  Idylls. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        355 

Incidents  from  Morte  d' Arthur  (Malory). 

How  Arthur  won  Excalibur.  Bk.  I,  ch.  23. 

How  Sir  Launcelot  slew  giants  and  made  a  castle  free.    Bk. 

VI,  ch.  2. 

The  Joust  of  King  Arthur.     Bk.  X,  ch.  21. 

How  Sir  Galahad  fought  at  a  tournament.    Bk.  XVII,  ch.  1. 

The  adventures  of  Sir  Percival.    Bk.  XIV. 
Tennyson  as  a  lyric  poet. 
Tennyson  as  an  occasional  poet. 
Tennyson  as  a  dramatist. 
The  Laureateship. 
The  personality  of  Tennyson. 
Tennyson's  rank  among  English  poets. 
Poetry  in  the  Victorian  age. 

Tennyson's  poetry  as  a  reflection  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived 
(The  Princess,  Locksley  Hall,  etc.). 
The  friendship  of  Tennyson  and  Hallam. 


EXAMPLES  OF  SPEECHES 
FOR  STUDY  OF  PLAN,  COHERENCE,  AND  EFFECTIVENESS 

INTRODUCTION  OF  WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN,  FOR  A  LECTURE,  BY  WILLIAM 
GAYNOR,  MAYOR  OF  NEW  YORK 

After  dining  with  you  on  so  recent  an  occasion,  I  feel  entirely 
at  home.  You  act  as  if  you  all  felt  at  home,  too.  I  doubt  if  there 
is  another  man  on  this  continent  who,  considering  the  accident  and 
the  weather  [there  was  a  heavy  rain.  The  whole  city  was  anxiously 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Carpathia  that  night  with  the  Titanic's 
passengers]  could  draw  such  an  audience. 

Dr.  Reisner  [pastor  of  church  in  which  lecture  was  delivered]  said 
you  might  not  all  agree  with  Mr.  Bryan  politically,  but  you  did 
ethically.  I  must  confess  I  don't  understand  that.  It  doesn't 


356  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

seem  quite  square.    When  I  was  a  boy,  we  always  called  the 
Methodist  boys  square.    I  thought  the  men  were  so  too. 

The  greatest  man  is  the  teacher.  Mr.  Bryan  is  our  greatest 
living  teacher.  He  has  run  three  tunes  for  the  highest  office.  He 
was  unsuccessful.  But  some  men  who  were  elected  have  not  been 
successful.  He  has  been  successful.  He  has  led  our  thought,  more 
than  anyone  else.  He  has  helped  reforms,  out  of  office.  Sometimes 
the  statesmen  out  of  office  are  greater  than  the  statesmen  in.  In 
both  capacities,  the  statesman  and  the  teacher,  I  now  introduce 
him  to  you. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN,  FOR  LECTURE,  "  THE  SIGNS  OF 

THE  TIMES,"    BEFORE   PACKARD   SCHOOL, 

BY  VICTOR  J.   DOWLJNQ 

No  one  could  be  more  interested  in  the  signs  of  the  times  than  the 
graduates  of  the  Packard  Commercial  School,  for  as  they  read 
these  signs  aright,  or  fail  to  read  them  correctly,  very  much  of 
their  future  success  will  be  added  to  or  detracted  from.  There  is 
no  one  better  qualified  to  interpret  for  them  the  signs  of  the  times 
than  that  distinguished  and  eloquent  gentleman  who  has  helped 
to  erect  so  many  of  those  signs  during  the  past  generation,  and 
who,  during  twenty  years  of  public  life,  in  the  white  heat  of  partisan 
debate  has  left  untouched  in  the  conviction  of  the  American  people 
his  intellectual  and  moral  honesty.  I  present  to  you  the  Honorable 
William  Jennings  Bryan. 


OPENING   ADDRESS    BY    ELBERT   BRINCKERHOFF   AT    BIBLE    TERCEN- 
TENARY,  NEW  YORK,   APRIL  25,    1911 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Theophilus  A.  Brouwer,  the  honored 
President  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  who  is  detained  by  ill- 
ness, it  falls  to  me  as  Vice-President  to  open  this  meeting  by  calling 
your  attention  to  the  relation  of  the  Society  to  the  Tercentenary 
celebration. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       357 

The  American  Bible  Society  for  almost  a  century  has  been  carry- 
ing on  the  work  for  which  it  was  organized.  This  was  to  encourage 
a  wider  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment, 
the  only  copies  in  the  English  language  to  be  circulated  by  the 
Society  to  be  the  version  set  forth  in  1611  and  commonly  known 
as  the  King  James  Version. 

The  American  Bible  Society  is  thoroughly  unsectarian  in  its 
entire  work — is  essentially  gratuitous  and  not  remunerative. 
Since  its  organization  over  ninety  million  volumes  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  have  been  issued,  while  the  receipts  of  the  Society,  not 
including  trust  funds  (of  which  the  income  only  can  be  used),  have 
been  over  thirty-four  million  dollars,  all  expended  in  circulating 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

At  this  anniversary  of  the  three  hundredth  year  of  the  King 
James  Version  of  the  English  Bible,  it  seems  fitting  that  the  Society 
should  present  this  summary  of  its  active  work  in  holding  forth  the 
Word  of  Life  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  world, 
and  emphasize  the  blessed  work  of  three  hundred  years  ago,  inviting 
co-laborers,  constituents  and  all  interested  in  God's  work  to  join 
in  recognition  of  the  leading  hand  of  the  Almighty,  and  without 
thought  of  creed,  denomination,  sect  or  nationality,  as  one  people 
— with  but  the  one  God,  and  dwellers  in  this  most  favored  of 
Christian  nations,  assemble  ourselves  to  celebrate  this  eventful 
and  historical  anniversary. 

In  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  I  have 
the  honor  of  presenting  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  David  H.  Greer,  who 
will  preside  over  this  meeting. 

"Bible  Society  Record." 


SPEECH    BY    BISHOP    DAVID    H.    GREER    AT    TERCENTENARY    OF    THE 
KING  JAMES   BIBLE,   NEW   YORK,   APRIL   25,    1911 

We  meet  to-night  to  commemorate  one  of  the  most  notable  events, 
if  not  the  most  notable,  hi  English-speaking  Christendom— the 
translation  three  hundred  years  ago  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 


358  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

into  the  English  tongue.  As  our  late  distinguished  fellow-towns- 
man, the  eminent  biblical  scholar,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  said,  "That 
was  the  greatest  blessing  which  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century  bestowed  upon  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  whose  hold 
upon  the  popular  heart  it  has  never  lost."  Other  translations  had 
been  made  before  and  some  have  been  made  since,  and  yet  it  is 
but  the  veriest  commonplace  to  repeat  what  has  been  so  often 
said,  that,  regarded  and  compared  as  literary  products,  none  of 
them  has  surpassed  the  King  James  Version,  or  even,  indeed,  ap- 
proached it.  Done  as  it  was  at  the  flowering  period  of  the  English 
language,  it  still  remains,  in  the  purity,  the  terseness,  and  the 
dignity  of  its  style  the  greatest  of  English  classics.  This  is  the 
general  verdict  of  scholarship;  so  much  so  indeed  that  when  a  few 
years  ago  some  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  England  and  America 
undertook  to  give  to  the  world  a  more  accurate  rendering  of  the 
original  text  they  did  not  venture  to  set  aside  the  Authorized 
English  Version,  but  simply  to  revise  it. 

And  not  only  was  that  version  a  great,  far-reaching  literary  event; 
it  was  a  great  moral  event,  which  liberated  into  the  English-speaking 
world  at  a  plastic  and  formative  period  those  sterling  moral  qual- 
ities which  have  been  ever  since  so  distinctive  of  it.  It  helped  to 
make  and  mold  the  Anglo-Saxon  type  of  character,  with  its  love 
of  liberty,  its  respect  for  justice,  its  reverence  for  righteousness 
and  its  profound  sense  of  personal  responsibility.  It  quickened  the 
public  conscience  and  softened  the  public  manners,  and  in  no 
little  measure  served  to  form  and  fashion  the  Anglo-Saxon  home 
and  the  Anglo-Saxon  State. 

And  yet,  even  more  than  that,  it  was  a  great,  far-reaching  reli- 
gious event,  which  set  the  people  free  from  the  bondage  of  super- 
stitious fear,  and  brought  them  then,  as  it  has  brought  them  since, 
face  to  face  with  God,  to  whom  they  should  carry,  as  into  their 
ultimate  courts,  their  human  equity  case. 

All  this,  and  much  besides,  you  will  hear  this  evening  from  the 
appointed  speakers. 

'Bible  Society  Record." 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       359 

SPEECH    BY   JOHN   PUBBOY   MITCHEL,    PRESIDENT  BOARD    OP  ALDER- 
MEN,   WELCOMING  DR.    CARREL,    OF   FRANCE,    ON 
BEHALF   OF   THE   CITY   OF   NEW   YORK 

Mr.  President,  President  Finley,  Dr.  Carrel,  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen : 

When  men  have  won  to  the  highest  rank  in  any  walk  of  life, 
it  is  both  natural  and  proper  that  their  fellowmen  should  pay 
to  them  the  tribute  of  admiration  that  courage,  perseverance, 
labor  and  genius  deserve.  This  is  true  even  though  the  field 
of  achievement  be  one  in  which  signal  service  to  humanity  or  to 
society  is  neither  sought  nor  found.  When,  however,  distinction 
comes  as  the  result  of  a  splendid  contribution  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  world,  and  a  service  to  the  human  race  that  puts  just  a  little 
further  off  suffering  and  death  and  brings  happiness  and  health 
just  a  trifle  closer  to  the  grasp  of  men,  then  the  tribute  to  the 
mind  and  heart  that  have  achieved  the  work  should  be  truer, 
broader,  must  be  more  sincere  than  when  eminence  attends  on 
purely  selfish  service. 

It  is  but  a  little  thing,  even  for  a  great  city  like  New  York,  to 
acknowledge  so  great  a  service  by  a  tribute  such  as  that  we  pay 
to-day  to  Dr.  Carrel.  Neither  the  official  greetings  nor  this 
expression  of  the  gratitude  of  his  adopted  city,  this  celebration 
conceived  and  organized  by  this  great  college  nor  the  honor  that 
is  conferred  upon  him  by  the  presence  here  and  the  praises  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  are  adequate  for  his  won- 
derful achievements  in  the  work  of  his  profession  or  for  the  splen- 
did, far-reaching  service  that  he  has  rendered  men.  Dr.  Carrel's 
service  to  this,  his  adopted,  city  lies  not  so  much  in  the  distinction 
that  he  has  brought  upon  her  by  winning  the  Nobel  Prize,  a  world 
honor  in  itself,  but  lies  rather  in  the  illimitable  benefits  that  the 
people  of  this  city,  in  common  with  mankind  at  large,  will  reap 
as  a  result  of  his  wonderful  discoveries.  What  may  be  the  ulti- 
mate result  of  those  discoveries,  what  may  be  the  ultimate  result 
of  the  successful  demonstration  that  arteries  and  organs  may  be 
transplanted  from  one  body  to  another  and  still  retain  life  and 


360  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

function,  and  that  the  life  of  tissues  and  of  organs  may  be  sus- 
tained apart  from  the  organisms  in  which  they  grow,  no  man  may 
predict  to-day.  But,  my  friends,  the  possibilities  hi  ever  widening 
vistas,  open  to  the  imagination,  are  limitless. 

Dr.  Carrel,  the  city  of  New  York  greets  you  as  a  benefactor  of 
your  race.  She  felicitates  you  upon  the  honors  that  have  come 
upon  you,  and  she  acknowledges  with  gratitude  the  distinction 
that,  hi  winning  them,  you  have  brought  upon  her.  She  is  proud 
of  you  as  a  citizen.  You,  sir,  hi  common  with  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  citizens  of  this  city,  were  born  hi  another  land.  None  the 
less,  sir,  she  looks  upon  you  as  she  looks  upon  them,  as  a  New 
Yorker.  She  trusts  that  you  may  have  become  attached  to  her 
as  she  has  become  attached  to  you,  and  that,  despite  the  alluring 
offers  that  will  undoubtedly  be  made  to  draw  you  elsewhere, 
you  will  remain  here,  a  citizen  of  New  York,  serving  your  city  and 
serving  mankind  in  the  future  as  you  have  in  the  past,  with  honor 
to  yourself  and  distinction  to  the  city  of  New  York. 

"City  College  Quarterly." 


RESPONSE    OF   DR.   CARREL 

I  am  deeply  affected  by  the  extraordinary  honor  which  is  done  to 
me  by  this  assembly.  No  man  of  science  has  ever  received  such 
a  splendid  public  recognition.  There  are  no  words  by  which  I 
could  express  to  you  my  gratitude  for  it. 

Almost  every  scientific  progress  which  appears  to  be  due  to 
the  efforts  of  one  individual  is  really  the  indirect  result  of  the 
forgotten  or  unknown  work  of  many  others.  It  makes  me  very 
happy  to  think  that  this  exceptional  honor  goes  above  me  to  the 
men  who  have  inspired  or  rendered  possible  the  researches  which 
brought  a  Nobel  Prize  to  this  country. 

When  I  was  still  a  medical  student  hi  Lyons,  my  thoughts  wan- 
dered often  through  the  fields  open  to  science  by  the  genius  of 
Claude  Bernard  and  Pasteur  and  developed  by  Paul  Bert  and  by 
Oilier,  my  first  master  in  surgery.  The  realization  of  some  of 
the  dreams  inspired  by  those  great  men  was  rendered  possible 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       361 

by  the  Rockefeller  Institute.  To  Dr.  Flexner,  its  director,  and  to 
the  spirit  given  by  him  to  the  Institute  was  due,  in  a  large  measure, 
the  success  of  my  experiments.  Therefore,  a  great  part  of  the 
wonderful  honor  bestowed  on  me  belongs  to  the  men  who  have 
founded,  organized  and  directed  the  first  institution  of  scientific 
research  in  America. 
With  all  my  heart,  I  thank  you. 

"City  College  Quarterly." 

ADDRESS    AT    OPENING    OF    CONFERENCE    ON    BALKAN    SETTLEMENT, 
LONDON,    BY   SIR   EDWARD    GREY 

Gentlemen:  His  majesty  the  King  desires  me  to  convey  to  you 
his  welcome  and  to  express  his  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your 
labors.  It  is  my  agreeable  duty  to  welcome  you  on  behalf  of  his 
majesty's  government  and  to  say  with  what  pleasure  your  presence 
is  regarded  in  this  country.  His  majesty  the  King,  being  anxious 
to  facilitate  your  task  in  every  way,  has  placed  these  rooms  in  St. 
James's  Palace  at  your  disposal.  I  trust  you  will  find  them  suit- 
able, and  at  the  same  time  I  assure  you  that  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment will  do  all  in  its  power  to  promote  your  convenience. 

You  will,  I  believe,  find  hi  this  country  an  atmosphere  of  calm 
and  impartiality  that  will  be  favorable  to  your  work,  and  within 
these  rooms  which  you  occupy  you  will  be  really  on  neutral  ground, 
where  there  will  be  no  politics  except  your  own. 

There  are  difficulties  in  all  negotiations  for  peace  after  a  war. 
I  will  not  attempt  to  estimate  what  they  may  be  in  your  case. 
They  have  been  no  doubt  the  subject  of  full  instructions  to  each 
set  of  delegates  from  then*  respective  governments,  but  there  can 
be  no  nobler  task  than  to  overcome  these  difficulties  and  to  accom- 
plish peace  as  a  result  of  your  own  efforts  and  your  own  work.  In 
this  way  you  will  lay  foundations  on  which  I  trust  will  be  built  by 
true  wisdom  and  statesmanship  the  prosperity,  moral,  economical 
and  national,  of  your  respective  countries.  Without  that  states- 
manship the  gains  of  war  are  of  little  or  no  worth  to  future  genera- 
tions. With  that  statesmanship  the  losses  of  war  can  be  repaired 


362  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

and  bitterness  merged  in  the  realization  of  the  blessings  of  peace. 
I  will  say  no  more  except  to  wish  you  success  in  your  task  and  to 
assure  you  that  you  have  the  good  will  of  every  one  in  the  object 
for  which  you  have  assembled  here,  and  that  by  accomplishing 
peace  you  will  secure  the  respect  of  the  whole  of  Europe. 

"New  York  Tribune." 

THOMAS  HARDY'S  REPLY  WHEN  PRESENTED  WITH  THE  GOLD  MEDAL 
OF  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  LITERATURE  ON  THE  SEVENTY- 
SECOND  ANNIVERSARY  OF  HIS  BIRTH 

In  thanking  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature  and  its  Academic 
Committee  very  warmly  for  this  interesting  and  valuable  gift,  I 
need  hardly  say  that  the  offer  of  it  came  quite  as  a  surprise  to 
myself,  of  which  the  committee  will  be  aware.  I  am,  to  be  sure, 
rather  an  old  boy  to  receive  a  medal,  and  am  particularly  unfor- 
tunate in  having  no  younger  boy  to  whom  I  can  hand  it  on;  so  that, 
without  undervaluing  the  receipt  of  it — rather,  indeed,  because 
I  value  it  so  highly — I  have  been  thinking  whether  prizes  of  some 
kind  could  not  be  offered  by  the  society  to  makers  of  literature 
earlier  in  life  to  urge  them  to  further  efforts. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  any  sort  of  incentive  to  the  cultivation 
and  production  of  pure  literature  is  of  immense  value  in  these 
latter  days,  and  awards  by  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature  should 
be  among  the  strongest.  An  appreciation  of  what  is  real  literature, 
and  efforts  to  keep  real  literature  alive,  have,  in  truth,  become 
imperative,  if  the  taste  for  it  is  not  to  be  entirely  lost,  and,  with 
the  loss  of  that  taste,  its  longer  life  hi  the  English  language.  While 
millions  have  lately  been  learning  to  read,  few  of  them  have  been 
learning  to  discriminate;  and  the  result  is  an  appalling  increase 
every  day  hi  slipshod  writing  that  would  not  have  been  tolerated 
for  one  moment  a  hundred  years  ago. 

I  don't  quite  like  to  say  so,  but  I  fear  that  the  vast  increase  of 
hurried  descriptive  reporting  in  the  newspapers  is  largely  responsible 
for  this  hi  England;  writing  done  by  men,  and  still  more  by  women, 
who  are  utterly  incapable  of,  and  unconscious  of,  that  'grin  of 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       363 

delight'  which,  William  Morris  assured  us,  comes  over  the  real 
artist  either  in  letters  or  in  other  forms  of  art  at  a  close  approxima- 
tion to,  if  not  an  exact  achievement  of,  his  ideal.  Then  the  in- 
creasing influx  of  American  journals,  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
worded,  helps  on  the  indifference  to  literary  form.  Their  influence 
has  been  strongly  apparent  of  late  years  in  our  English  newspapers, 
where  one  often  now  meets  with  headlines  in  staring  capitals  that 
are  phrases  of  no  language  whatever,  and  often  incomprehensible 
at  a  casual  glance.  Every  kind  of  reward,  prize,  or  grant,  there- 
fore, which  urges  omnivorous  readers  and  incipient  writers  toward 
appreciating  the  splendors  of  English  undefiled,  and  the  desire  of 
producing  such  for  themselves,  is  of  immense  value. 

For  my  own  part  I  think— though  all  writers  may  not  agree 
with  me — that  the  shortest  way  to  good  prose  is  by  the  route  of 
good  verse.  The  apparent  paradox — I  cannot  remember  who 
first  expressed  it — that  the  best  poetry  is  the  best  prose  ceases  on 
examination  to  be  a  paradox  and  becomes  a  truism.  Anybody 
may  test  it  for  himself  by  taking  any  fine  lines  in  verse  and,  casting 
off  the  fetters  of  meter  and  rhyme  that  seem  to  bind  the  poet,  trying 
to  express  the  same  ideas  more  freely  and  accurately  in  prose.  He 
will  find  that  it  cannot  be  done;  the  words  of  the  verse — fettered 
as  he  thought  them — are  the  only  words  that  will  convey  the  ideas 
that  were  intended  to  be  conveyed. 

I  know  that  it  is  said  in  Fleet  Street  that  poetry  is  dead.  But 
this  only  means  that  it  is  dead  in  Fleet  Street.  Poetry  itself  can- 
not die,  as  George  Sand  once  eloquently  wrote  in  her  novel  called 
"  AndreY'  I  cannot  do  better  than  wind  up  these  rambling  remarks 
with  some  of  her  words  on  this  question:  "Poesy  cannot  die. 
Should  she  find  for  refuge  but  the  brain  of  a  single  man  she  would 
yet  have  centuries  of  Me,  for  she  would  leap  out  of  it  like  the  lava 
from  Vesuvius  and  mark  out  a  way  for  herself  among  the  most  pro- 
saic realities.  Despite  her  overturned  temples  and  the  false  gods 
adored  among  their  rums,  she  is  immortal  as  the  perfume  of  the 
flowers  and  the  splendor  of  the  skies." 

"New  York  Times"  Book  Review. 


364  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

ADDRESS  TO  CHAIRMAN  AT  DIRECTORS'   MEETING, 
BY   CHARLES   M.   CABOT 

In  the  March  [1911]  number  of  the  AMERICAN  MAGAZINE  there 
appeared  an  article  dealing  with  certain  economic  conditions  ob- 
taining among  the  employees  of  this  corporation,  chiefly  those 
employed  in  the  steel  mills  at  or  near  Pittsburgh.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  at  this  tune  to  enter  into  a  discussion  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
article  referred  to,  except  to  express  my  belief  that,  if  the  state- 
ments there  made  are  true,  the  conditions  so  revealed  constitute 
a  serious  menace  to  the  continued  success  of  this  corporation,  both 
in  its  business  as  an  employer  of  labor  and  in  its  reputation  as  an 
organization  which  has  been  willing  at  all  times  to  deal  openly  and 
frankly  with  industrial  conditions.  I  believe  that  it  is  the  right 
of  the  stockholders  of  this  corporation  to  be  fully  informed  as  to  the 
truth  of  the  statements  contained  in  this  article,  in  order  that,  if 
such  statements  are  found  to  be  based  on  facts,  the  stockholders 
may  consider  whether  or  not  some  action  should  be  taken  by  the 
officers  of  this  corporation  with  a  view  to  remedying  the  relations 
that  now  obtain  between  this  corporation  and  its  employees. 

Stenographic  report  published  in  "American  Magazine." 


PART    OF    SPEECH    BEFORE    TEACHERS*    MEETING,    BY    LULU    ML 

M'CORMICK,    PRINCIPAL   OF   CENTRAL  SCHOOL, 

CHEYENNE,    WY. 

When  Mr.  Fee  asked  me  to  select  a  topic  and  lead  a  discussion 
this  afternoon,  I  naturally  saw  an  opportunity  of  focusing  your 
attention  on  the  matter  that  is  giving  me  the  most  worry.  You 
may  well  forgive  the  egotism  of  dragging  my  own  problems  into  the 
limelight.  I  give  you  my  word  I  would  rather  listen  to  the  woes 
of  any  one  of  you — indeed  I  would  rather  sit  through  the  rehearsal 
of  the  woes  of  each  and  every  one  of  you,  than  to  stand  up  here 
before  you  and  tell  my  own.  But  if  there  is  relief  in  telling  troubles 
to  one  policeman,  as  somewhere  I  have  heard  there  is,  great  good 
should  come  from  confiding  in  fifty  teachers. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       365 

Let  me  tell  you  then,  in  the  strictest  confidence  of  course,  that 
my  people  waste  a  tremendous  lot  in  energy  in  school — and  that 
I  waste  a  deal  of  it  myself.  Do  your  people  and  do  you?  If  your 
people  and  you  do  not,  why  am  I  so  much  stupider  as  to  allow  my 
people  to  do  so,  and  to  do  it  myself?  It  isn't  that  I  want  to,  and 
it  isn't  that  the  children  want  to,  and  it  certainly  isn't  that  I  want 
the  children  to — but  waste  it  we  do. 

And  now  to  tell  you  how  we  do  it.  The  pupils  fritter  it  away 
in  careless  preparation  of  assigned  lessons,  in  recitations,  the  direct 
result  of  the  careless  preparation,  and  in  miserably  spelled  and 
atrociously  punctuated  scribbles  when  it  comes  to  written  work,  a 
second  direct  result  of  the  careless  preparation.  All  this  after  ten 
weeks  of  the  best  I  could  do  for  them.  However,  I  hope  to  be 
able  to  do  more  for  them  after  Mr.  Schwiering  gives  his  talk  on 
Teaching  Jack  How  to  Study.  One  big  waste  of  pupils'  energies 
will  have  been  eliminated  when  we  succeed  in  teaching  our  girls 
and  boys  how  to  concentrate  on  a  lesson  and  really  master  it. 

But  this  is  not  all — not  even  the  worst.  When  I  give  a  direction 
there  are  pupils  hi  my  room  who  still  hesitate  and  finish  up  some- 
thing else  before  obeying.  This  after  ten  weeks.  I  have  pupils 
who  still  can  not  copy  accurately.  I  have  pupils  who  still  dream 
over  an  open  book  during  study  periods  as  though  the  theory  of 
elbow  absorption  had  not  been  exploded  long  ago.  I  have  pupils 
who  still  play  nervously  with  pencils  or  erasers,  pupils  who  still 
tap  with  fingers  or  feet,  pupils  (dear,  sweet  girls  these  are)  who  still 
smile  cheerfully  across  the  aisle,  some  hardened  criminals  who  even 
whisper — and  yet,  and  yet — there  isn't  one  really  bad  youngster  in 
my  whole  class,  not  one  who  does  any  of  these  awful  things  mali- 
ciously— but  the  energy  they  waste  is  enormous,  and  the  energy 
I  waste  worrying  about  it  is  little  less. 

Waste — the  word  haunts  many  of  my  waking  and  some  of  my 
sleeping  moments..  I  think  of  it  when  I  see  a  boy  tapping  aimlessly 
with  his  pencil  and  realize  how  his  mind  is  stagnating  while  that 
pencil  taps.  I  can  multiply  the  time  it  takes  me  to  call  him  back 
to  earth  by  the  number  of  us  in  the  room,  and  have  the  definite 
waste  of  time — but  who  can  estimate  his  loss  of  energy  and  mine? 


366  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

One  pair  of  wandering  eyes  during  an  explanation  dissipates  my 
enthusiasm;  and  energy — whole  horse  powers  of  it — goes  glim- 
mering when  in  history  note  books  I  find  here  an  extra  "  e  "  in  Henry, 
there  a  missing  "a"  hi  boundary,  or  any  other  evidence  of  gross 
carelessness  in  copying. 

The  point  I  have  tried  to  make  so  far  is  that  my  pupils  waste 
force:  first,  by  not  knowing  how  to  apply  it  to  the  subject  in  hand; 
second,  by  habits  of  idleness,  carelessness,  irresponsibility;  and, 
third,  that  I  lose  real  teaching  power  by  being  annoyed  when  these 
habits  are  not  abandoned. 

Perhaps  I  am  over-fussy.  One  of  my  cleverest  girls  implied 
as  much  hi  her  last  composition.  The  subject  was,  "How  Can  I 
Improve?"  And  she  defended  every  fault  to  which  I  had  ever 
called  her  attention.  She  hasn't  many  serious  ones.  Her  very 
deadliest  sin  happens  to  be  smiling,  and  in  its  defense  she  actually 
quoted  "Laugh  and  the  world  laughs  with  you."  She  moralized 
too  on  the  fact  that  so  many  things  commendable  everywhere  else 
were  wrong  hi  school.  If  you  didn't  smile  at  home  you  were  called 
a  grouch;  if  you  did  in  school,  you  were  called  down.  Her  epigrams 
amused  me,  but  failed  to  swerve  me  from  my  desire  to  develop  a 
more  intense  application  to  work. 

By  permission  of  the  author.    "  The  Tribune,"  Cheyenne,  Wy. 


ADDRESS  AT  SESSION   OF  NATIONAL  CHILD   LABOR  COMMITTEE 
BY  JANE  ADDAMS,   HULL  HOUSE,    CHICAGO 

THE   OPERATION   OF  THE   ILLINOIS   CHILD    LABOR   LAW 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  state  the  situation  for  Illinois.  For 
while  hi  the  nation  as  a  whole  child  labor  is  growing — that  is,  we 
are  having  each  year  hi  America  more  children  at  work  than  was 
true  of  the  previous — we  are  able  to  say  that  that  statement  is  not 
true  of  Illinois.  There  has  been  a  decided  decrease  in  Illinois  in 
the  number  of  children  at  work  during  the  last  four  years.  Not- 
withstanding the  annual  increase  hi  the  population,  and  hi  spite  of 
the  fact  that  our  manufactures  are  increasing,  we  have  a  very 


TOPICS  AND   ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       367 

decided  decrease  in  the  number  of  children  working  both  actually 
and  proportionately.  In  1901,  in  proportion  to  the  total  number  of 
workers  the  child  workers  in  Illinois  was  4.1  per  cent.;  in  1902  it 
was  3.7  per  cent.,  and  in  1903  it  was  2.9  per  cent.,  and  in  1904  it 
was  1.9  per  cent.,  so  you  see  they  are  steadily  and  rapidly  de- 
creasing. 

Mr.  Davies,  the  State  Factory  Inspector,  who  has  attended  the 
various  conventions,  says  that  this  is  the  lowest  number  of  children 
in  proportion  to  the  adult  working  population  of  any  State  in  the 
Union.  And  if  we  take  this  statement  in  connection  with  the  other 
statement  that  we  have  heard  here,  that  Illinois  is  the  third  manufac- 
turing State  hi  the  Union,  we  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  our  show- 
ing, and  we  are  proud  to  have  the  Governor  preside  at  a  meeting 
when  we  can  make  such  a  good  report  to  him  for  his  State. 

Another  interesting  development  in  regard  to  Illinois  comes 
hi  connection  with  the  educational  test  provided  in  our  child  labor 
law,  for,  while  it  is  difficult  to  have  any  practical  statistics  on  child 
labor,  some  of  the  things  happening  in  Illinois  since  the  new  child 
labor  law  went  into  effect  are  most  significant.  Our  law  not  only 
requires  an  educational  test,  but  it  provides  a  place  in  which  it  shall 
be  made,  and  this  test  for  all  the  public  and  parochial  schools  of 
Chicago  being  made  in  one  place,  enables  us  to  know  how  many 
children  receive  the  certificates  each  year,  and  something  more  about 
them.  The  total  number  of  children  who  have  received  certificates 
in  the  last  three  years  for  the  Chicago  office  has  been  26,886.  Out 
of  that  number  we  know  they  can  all  read  and  write  something. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  they  cannot  all  read  and  write  English,  but 
they  can  read  and  write  some  language,  and  the  large  majority  of 
them,  of  course,  read  and  write  English.  We  have  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that,  of  the  nearly  27,000  children  who  have  gone  to 
work  in  Illinois  in  the  past  four  years,  they  have  all  passed  the 
literacy  test.  They  have,  further,  all  been  weighed  and  measured, 
which  may  be  an  inaccurate  test,  but  it  affords,  at  any  rate,  a  guar- 
anty outside  of  the  parents'  word  that  they  have  attained  an  average 
height  and  age.  That  is  something  to  know.  For  a  long  time  we 
did  not  know  how  many  children  were  at  work,  how  much  they 


368  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

knew,  nor  of  what  size  they  were — whether  they  were  big  enough 
for  the  age  of  fourteen  years  or  only  big  enough  for  the  age  of  ten. 

The  increased  attendance  in  the  schools  has  been  very  marked 
since  this  law  has  been  enforced.  If  the  parents  are  once  thor- 
oughly convinced — and  the  illiterate  parents,  most  of  all — that  a 
child  cannot  go  out  and  earn  money  until  he  can  read  and  write,  of 
course  they  will  see  to  it  that  their  children  learn  to  read  and  write 
as  quickly  as  possible.  We  have  taken  some  statistics  from  a 
school  in  the  stock-yards  district,  and  the  increase  in  the  attendance 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades  is  very  marked.  The  attendance  in 
one  school  in  the  fifth  grade  for  the  year  before  the  law  went  into 
effect  averaged  53,  in  the  year  after  the  law  had  been  put  into  effect 
in  the  fifth  grade  in  the  same  school  it  averaged  159  pupils.  Allow- 
ing something  for  the  natural  increase  in  population,  it  would  still 
leave  a  very  large  proportion,  which  was  to  be  accounted  for  only  by 
the  enforcement  of  the  new  law.  And  this  educational  test  is  re- 
sulting in  good  in  other  ways:  it  is  slowly  remedying  one  of  the 
worst  evils  of  immigration.  It  has  been  the  custom  for  many  years 
for  immigrants  already  settled  here  to  bring  over  boys  and  girls  who 
were  but  remotely  related  to  them  and  too  young  to  protect  them- 
selves, in  order  to  exploit  them.  They  took  all  their  wages  in 
return  for  scanty  food  and  shelter,  but  now  that  these  children 
must  learn  to  read  and  write  before  they  can  go  to  work  it  is  no 
longer  profitable  to  have  them  sent  over,  and  I  assure  you  there  is 
a  very  marked  decrease  in  this  enforced  immigration  in  those 
States  in  which  the  educational  provision  is  rigidly  enforced. 

The  child  labor  law  is,  further,  having  a  marked  influence  upon 
the  immigrant  as  he  slowly  learns  that  a  child  cannot  go  to  work 
until  he  has  reached  a  certain  physical  and  mental  welf-being,  that 
there  is  a  standard  in  American  life,  and  it  seems  to  some  of  us  that 
all  these  things  afford  a  much  better  way  for  new  people  to  learn 
about  America  than  that  they  should  merely  be  able  to  repeat  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

I  want  to  say  just  a  word  in  regard  to  the  dangers  surrounding 
our  new  child  labor  law.  We,  too,  have  had  our  long-continued 
trouble  with  the  glass  workers.  I  suppose  legislation  in  regard  to 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        369 

child  labor  has  never  been  attempted  but  what  its  friends  at  the 
legislature  have  encountered  the  lobbyists  from  the  glass  works. 
We  have  been  told  that  all  the  glass  works  will  move  out  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  if  we  have  a  rigid  child  labor  law,  and  yet  each  year 
we  find  that  the  glass  works  have  extended  and  improved  their 
plants,  and  that  at  least  two  firms  have  moved  into  the  State  since 
this  law  has  been  enacted  and  enforced.  So  that  we  no  longer  fear 
them,  but  there  is  a  feature  of  the  child  labor  law  in  Illinois  that  is 
at  present  sustaining  sharp  attack  from  the  theatrical  people,  and  it 
is  just  here  where  public  opinion  may  be  of  great  value.  If  a  child 
under  sixteen  years  is  allowed  to  play  in  any  theater  after  seven 
o'clock  the  law  is  violated,  and  to  make  any  exception  to  the  law  is 
most  dangerous.  Just  imagine  an  honest  farmer  at  the  next  session 
of  the  legislature  saying,  "You  make  an  exception  for  the  people 
in  Chicago,  you  allow  the  children  to  play  in  the  theaters  at  night, 
but  you  won't  allow  a  boy  to  make  an  honest  living  in  the  glass 
works."  One  can  easily  see  that  the  entire  law  would  be  weakened. 

Two  cases  of  the  infraction  of  the  law  by  theatrical  people  are 
now  awaiting  decision  in  the  Superior  Court  of  Illinois,  and  another 
case  has  been  indicted  before  the  grand  jury,  and  we  will  have  to  wait 
for  the  judge's  opinion  as  to  the  application  of  the  law  to  theaters. 

But  in  the  meantime  it  will  make  a  great  difference  if  when  this 
law  is  broken  at  the  theatrical  performances  the  public  would  protest 
and  declare  that  it  attended  the  theater  to  see  the  art  of  acting 
and  not  the  exploitation  of  children.  We  like  to  see  a  child  on 
the  stage  because  it  moves  our  sympathies  and  touches  our  sensi- 
bilities; we  say  that  it  is  true  to  life,  and  we  think  that  we  like  acting 
of  that  kind,  when,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  lack  of  acting  which 
we  like,  the  touch  of  reality  which  the  child  brings  to  the  stage.  .  .  . 

Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  put  aside  this  emotionalism  and  stand  by 
the  child  labor  law  from  the  side  of  art  as  well  as  humanity.  It  is 
easy  to  discuss  the  wrongs  of  the  South  and  to  agitate  for  laws 
affecting  manufacturers,  but  here  in  Chicago  where  in  relation  to 
the  theaters  the  law  touches  us  directly  we  are  in  sympathy  with 
the  law,  and  here  is  an  opportunity  to  aid  in  its  enforcement,  and 
I  hope  that  we  will  all  endeavor  to  do  our  share. 

By  permission  of  National  Child  Labor  Committee. 


370  ORAL  COMPOSITION 


PORTION   OF  ADDRESS   BEFORE   INDIANA   T.   M.   C.   A. 

BY   FAIRFAX   HARRISON, 
PRESIDENT,    CHICAGO,    INDIANAPOLIS   &    LOUISVILLE   R.    R. 

THE  EVIL  CONSEQUENCES  TO  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  EXISTING  CONFLICT 

Perhaps  the  greatest  evil  of  this  conflict  is  visited  actually  or 
potentially  upon  the  public,  which  is  entitled  to  a  uniform  and 
uninterrupted  conduct  of  the  transportation  facilities  on  which  it 
depends  more  and  more  every  year,  but  it  is  not  proposed  to  go  into 
that  important  phase  of  the  question  here.  Our  subject  is  the  effect 
upon  the  parties  to  the  conflict. 

There  are  three  recognizable  consequences  of  this  conflict  which 
have  had  an  evil  effect  upon  the  capital  invested  in  railroads  and 
as  many  of  injurious  effect  upon  labor.  Let  us  examine  them  in 
turn. 

Not  the  least  element  of  the  growing  strength  of  labor  in  this 
conflict  is  that  labor  is  to-day  popular,  in  the  sense  in  which  control 
of  political  policy  is  accomplished  in  a  progressive  democracy  by 
what  is  popular.  It  represents  votes  and  is  heeded  by  legislatures. 
Its  attitude  of  conflict  with  the  management  of  the  railways,  which 
represent  the  capital  invested  in  them,  was  not  the  cause  of  the 
assumption  of  the  power  of  regulation  of  the  railways  by  govern- 
ment; the  managers  themselves  are  responsible  for  that,  but,  since 
regulation  became  an  accomplished  fact,  the  activity  of  labor  in 
the  legislature  has  been  the  inspiration  of  many  of  the  laws  of  un- 
necessary and  oppressive  regulation  which  have  been  enacted.  I  am 
myself  an  advocate  of  regulation  of  the  railways  by  government, 
but  I  am  unable  to  blink  the  fact  that  what  we  have  had  has  not 
always  been  what  we  may  fairly  expect  to  have,  the  regulation  which 
considers  all  alike.  In  the  period  of  adjustment  of  the  last  few 
years  the  experience  of  every  railway  manager  has  been  that  many 
of  the  measures  of  regulation  of  railways  have  been  futile  and  merely 
wasteful  of  money  sorely  needed  for  improvement  of  facilities  which 
have  in  consequence  been  postponed.  Many  of  these  measures 
have  originated  in  mere  opportunism  of  the  politician,  who,  seeking 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        371 

to  commend  himself  to  his  constituents  by  adroit  insistence  upon 
minor  wrongs,  secures  the  enactment  of  a  general  law  prescribing 
an  invariable  and  expensive  practice  for  the  operation  of  all  railroads, 
the  suggestion  for  which  had  its  origin  hi  the  failure  of  a  particular 
railroad  hi  respect  of  its  handling  of  a  particular  shipment;  but  there 
are  those  also,  and  they  are  not  few,  which  have  been  the  direct 
consequence  of  the  conflict  of  labor  and  capital.  The  managements 
of  the  railways  have  not  been  esteemed  by  legislatures  in  recent 
years  for  historical  reasons  which  are  not  creditable  to  either  of 
them,  and  it  has  been  as  easy  for  organized  labor  as  for  the  ambitious 
politician  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  law  to  make  a  railroad  wince. 

But  more  serious  than  this  is  the  effect  upon  the  railroads  of  the 
steady  demands  of  labor  for  fixed  and  invariable  increases  of  wages. 
There  is  no  railway  manager  to-day,  I  venture  to  assert,  who  does 
not  want  all  his  employees  to  be  well  paid,  to  share  in  prosperity 
when  prosperity  exists,  and  to  be  rewarded  by  promotion  for  efficient 
and  loyal  services.  If  he  is  not  able  to  give  this  feeling  expression 
in  all  deserving  cases  it  is  because  his  constant  cost  for  the  numeri- 
cally most  important  classes  of  labor  has  increased  in  greater  pro- 
portion than  the  increases  of  revenue  out  of  which  that  cost  must 
come.  The  margin  necessary  for  the  successful  administration  of 
any  industry  has  been  thereby  progressively  narrowed,  until  the 
point  of  danger  to  credit  even  of  the  most  prosperous  roads  is  now 
distinctly  visible,  as  anyone  can  testify  who  has  railroad  securities 
for  sale  which  he  bought  ten  years  ago.  This  is  a  situation  which 
would  be  difficult  in  an  industry  which  could  stand  still,  but  in  an 
industry  of  which  the  life  is  growth,  it  discourages  those  who  are 
invited  to  risk  the  new  capital  necessary  to  make  even  the  improve- 
ments, which,  by  increasing  efficiency,  will  reduce  expenses  and  so 
widen  the  margin  again;  much  less  will  the  funds  be  forthcoming 
for  the  improvements  demanded  by  the  public  for  comfort  and 
convenience.  In  the  end  the  tendency  jeopards  the  very  capital 
already  invested. 

Another  consequence  of  the  conflict  in  its  effect  upon  capital  is 
perhaps  irrevocably  accomplished  already.  It  is  the  change  which 
uncertainty  of  income  has  had  upon  the  point  of  view  of  investors. 


372  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Time  was  when  railroad  stocks  were  a  favorite  form  of  investment, 
not  only  because  they  promised  substantial  profit  by  increment  of 
value,  but  because  they  spelled  stability  of  income.  To-day  rail- 
road stocks  are  not  in  favor,  and  whenever  money  is  now  invested 
in  railroads  (except  in  extraordinary  cases,  each  of  which  has  its 
historical  explanation),  the  form  of  investment  is  the  bond.  In 
other  words,  the  investor  is  no  longer  a  partner  in  the  business,  or, 
to  use  the  good  old  Elizabethan  word,  an  adventurer;  but  has 
become  a  money  lender.  He  prefers  the  right  to  foreclose  a  mort- 
gage to  an  uncertain  chance  of  a  profit  secured  by  good  management 
and  efficient  operation.  The  capital  already  invested  hi  the  original 
construction  of  a  railway  suffers  the  consequence  of  this  change  of 
investing  opinion,  for  it  must  now  stand  as  the  margin  of  the  new 
investor  and  must  risk  being  wiped  out  for  his  benefit  and  security. 
Whenever,  as  has  happened  in  recent  years,  a  railroad  is  faced  by 
unconcerned  and  unyielding  demands  of  labor  at  a  time  when  it  is 
unable  both  to  respond  to  them  and  to  maintain  its  credit,  this  risk 
is  imminent.  It  is  a  consequence  of  war. 

As  it  concerns  labor,  the  conflict  is  not  less  dangerous  in  its  conse- 
quences. We  hear  much  to-day  of  the  increased  cost  of  living. 
It  is  urged  as  a  ground  for  advancing  wages,  even  when  the  inability 
of  the  industry  to  do  so  and  continue  to  prosper  is  apparent.  The 
argument  is  that  those  who  produce  what  the  industry  markets  are 
entitled  to  the  first  consideration  in  the  provision  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  and  where  that  argument  is  supported  by  facts  it  is  most 
persuasive.  It  is  not,  however,  as  sound  an  argument  in  the  rail- 
way industry  to-day  as  it  was  some  years  ago.  While  the  cost  of 
certain  necessaries  of  life  has  indubitably  increased,  the  scale  of 
living  of  the  railway  employee  has  increased  in  greater  ratio  and 
not  the  least  factor  in  this  has  been  the  increases  in  railway  wages. 
This  is  the  vicious  circle  of  prosperity.  I  read  the  other  day  an  old 
book,  Robert  Wallace's  "  Dissertation  on  the  Numbers  of  Mankind," 
published  in  1753,  before  the  days  of  political  economy,  and  there 
came  upon  a  suggestive  comment  on  this  subject: 

"  Operose  manufactures  of  linen,  wool  and  silk,  toys  and  curiosities 
of  wood,  metals  or  earth,  elegant  furniture,  paintings,  statues,  and 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       373 

all  the  refinements  of  an  opulent  trading  nation,  tend,"  he  says, 
"to  multiply  men's  wants,  make  the  most  necessary  and  substantial 
things  dearer  and  in  general  increase  the  expenses  of  living." 

This  is  an  eighteenth  century  expression  of  a  thought  which  an 
American  of  our  time,  who  represents  in  his  own  life  the  success  of 
individual  initiative,  industry  and  economy,  has  well  phrased  in 
the  notable  epigram  that  "  It  is  not  the  high  cost  of  living  from  which 
we  suffer  but  the  cost  of  high  living. "  There  is  many  an  American 
railway  employee  who,  if  he  searches  his  heart,  will  admit  that  the 
large  increases  in  wages  which  have  been  secured  for  him  in  recent 
years  have  brought  him  very  little  real  comfort.  I  was  talking 
the  other  day  with  a  locomotive  engineer  who  is  thirty-five  years 
old  and  has  drawn  handsome  pay  for  most  of  his  industrial  life.  He 
told  me  that  his  father,  who  had  been  a  runner  on  the  same  road, 
had  saved  and  left  behind  him  $6,000,  living  meanwhile  a  self- 
respecting  life  on  very  much  less  wages  than  his  son  now  gets. 

"Not  only  have  I  been  unable  to  save  anything,"  said  the  son 
to  me,  "but  I  have  spent  some  of  the  old  man's  savings." 

"What  did  you  do  with  your  last  increase  in  pay?"  I 
asked. 

"Well,  my  wife  said  that  the  neighbors  thought  she  should  have 
a  silk  dress,  and  the  girls  wanted  a  piano,  and  so  it  went;  in  the  end 
I  did  not  find  myself  any  better  off  than  I  was  before. " 

This  means,  if  it  means  anything,  that  the  present  position  of 
labor  in  its  conflict  with  capital  is  deemed  to  justify  the  expecta- 
tion of  continued  increases  in  pay  without  regard  to  industrial 
conditions,  an  assurance  which  breeds  habits  of  extravagance  which 
are  harmful  to  the  individual.  In  other  words,  the  increased  pay 
is  a  factor  in  creating  the  high  cost  of  living. 

As  the  conflict  is  now  waged,  the  lion's  share  goes  to  the  most 
powerful  organization,  and  the  weak  among  the  employees  alone 
suffer.  It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  some  classes  of  railway  em- 
ployees are  now  highly  paid,  both  actually  and  relatively,  and  that 
other  classes  are  not  on  the  same  basis  in  proportion  to  the  value 
of  their  services.  This  is  an  inequality  in  the  same  industry  which 
one  can  understand  is  intolerable  to  a  spirited  man,  and  indeed  pro- 


374  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

duces  some  of  the  worst  consequences  of  the  present  system,  both 
upon  the  employer  and  employee,  but  chiefly  upon  the  latter. 

Finally,  the  present  system,  which  required  in  the  beginning  a  well 
disciplined  and  cohesive  organization  for  self  protection,  now 
results  sometimes  in  stifling  the  ambition  of  the  individual  by  an 
assurance  of  drab  uniformity  of  treatment.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
press  the  point.  The  warmest  advocates  of  conservatively  managed 
labor  unions,  and  I  am  proud  to  include  myself  hi  the  number, 
recognize  the  danger  and  the  risk  of  this  necessity  of  the  system. 

What,  then,  of  the  future,  if  the  present  conflict  continues? 

For  the  management  of  industry  the  conflict  has  been  a  stimulus 
to  greater  efficiency  and  the  economical  investment  of  new  capital. 
As  the  wages  of  labor  increased,  an  attempt  to  offset  the  increased 
expense  by  economy  in  operation  has  resulted,  and  vast  sums  have 
been  spent,  for  example,  in  reducing  grades  and  increasing  power, 
to  secure  greater  unit  train  loads,  but  the  limit  to  this  kind  of 
economy  is  in  sight,  if  it  has  not  been  reached.  The  candid  fact 
is  that,  although  other  branches  of  industry  are  at  this  moment  enjoy- 
ing great  prosperity,  the  railroads,  doing  the  largest  business  in 
their  history  and  passing  through  their  treasuries  the  largest  reven- 
ues they  have  ever  realized,  are  in  a  more  precarious  condition  than 
ever  they  have  been,  such  is  the  burden  of  their  expenses.  It  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  the  railroads  that  something  shall  be  done  to 
relieve  the  present  tense  situation  and  enable  them  to  face  the 
future  with  confidence,  and  I  believe  that  the  way  to  accomplish 
this  is  to  settle  the  conflict  of  labor  and  capital  in  the  railway  indus- 
try on  an  enduring  basis.  Other  remedies  are  mere  salves  on  that 
sore. 

For  labor  also  the  future  is  not  assured  under  existing  conditions. 
Already  there  have  been  expressions  of  discontent  on  the  part  of 
other  classes  of  the  community  with  what  they  call  the  preferred 
position  of  railroad  labor.  The  most  industrious  and  successful 
farmers  and  storekeepers  in  the  country  along  the  line  seldom  make 
as  much  net  money  in  the  year  as  do  the  railway  employees  stationed 
at  those  towns,  and  nothing  like  as  much  as  those  they  see  going 
by  on  the  trains.  They  are,  however,  a  large  numerical  majority 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       375 

of  those  who  pay  freight  charges,  and  they  now  complain  against  the 
freight  rates  largely  because  they  think  these  rates  might  be  less 
if  such  relatively  high  wages  were  not  paid  to  certain  classes  of 
railroad  employees.  If  that  class  of  the  community  speaks  it  is 
likely  to  be  heard  in  the  legislatures  more  sympathetically  than  the 
railroad  managements  are  heard.  All  it  lacks  at  the  moment  is 
organization  and  this  it  can  learn  from  the  successful  experience 
of  labor. 

Whenever  any  class  of  society  becomes  so  powerful  as,  in  the  abuse 
of  its  power,  to  affect  injuriously  the  lives,  liberty  or  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  of  or  by  any  other  considerable  class  or  classes  of  society, 
the  consequence,  under  the  existing  regime,  is  for  government  to 
lay  the  heavy  hand  of  regulating  authority  upon  it.  This  may 
happen  sooner  or  later,  but  it  is  inevitable.  Eighteen  months  ago, 
in  a  public  address,  reasoning  from  the  same  premises,  I  ventured 
to  predict  that  the  public  press  could  not  escape  such  legislation; 
and  we  find  to-day  an  act  of  Congress  regulating  newspapers  on 
the  statute  books.  It  is  not  impossible  that  organized  labor  may 
hereafter  be  faced  with  a  strong  and  sustained  public  control  of 
its  activities.  It  would  be  the  logic  of  the  last  phase  of  the  present 
conflict. — [Mr.  Harrison  then  suggests  a  remedy.] 

By  permission  of  the  author.     "Railway  Gazette." 


REPLY   BY    CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES   TO   COMMITTEE   APPOINTED   TO 

NOTIFY   HIM   OF  HIS   NOMINATION   FOR   MAYOR   OF 

NEW  YORK  CITY,    OCTOBER  9,    1905* 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Notification  Committee: 
You  summon  me  to  what  you  believe  a  public  duty,  and  I  shall 

not  answer  that  summons  by  referring  to  considerations  merely 

personal  however  important  they  might  be  if  the  question  were  one 

of  personal  preference. 
You  and  the  others  who  have  urged  me  to  accept  the  nomination 

have  not  rested  the  request  upon  the  basis  of  partisan  obligation, 

•Addresses  and  Papers  of  Charles  Evans  Hughes,  G.  P.  Putman's 
Sons.     By  permission. 


376  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

but  upon  the  more  secure  foundation  of  duty  to  the  community. 
It  has  been  impressed  upon  me  that  the  Republican  party  is  seek- 
ing to  raise  a  standard  to  which,  regardless  of  party,  all  men  may 
resort  who  desire  to  see  our  city  free  from  the  pervasive  influence 
of  an  organization  whose  motive  is  gain  and  not  service. 

I  am  not  insensible  to  this  appeal,  and  I  fully  appreciate  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  position  in  which,  against  my  will,  I  have  been 
placed.  The  letters  which  I  have  received  and  the  personal  appeals 
which  have  been  made  show  very  clearly  that  there  is  a  division  of 
sentiment  as  to  the  course  I  should  pursue,  and  that  either  action  I 
might  take  would  be  viewed  with  extreme  disfavor  by  men  whose 
judgment  I  respect  and  of  whose  sincerity  there  can  be  no  question. 

In  this  dilemma  I  have  simply  to  do  my  duty  as  I  see  it.  In  my 
judgment  I  have  no  right  to  accept  the  nomination.  A  paramount 
public  duty  forbids  it.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  im- 
portance of  the  insurance  investigation.  That  is  undisputed.  It 
is  dealing  with  questions  vital  to  the  interests  of  millions  of  our 
fellow  citizens  throughout  the  land.  It  presents  an  opportunity 
for  public  service  second  to  none,  and  involves  a  correlative  respon- 
sibility. I  have  devoted  myself  unreservedly  to  this  work.  It  com- 
mands all  my  energies.  It  is  imperative  that  I  continue  hi  it. 
You  have  frankly  recognized  that  it  must  continue  unembarrassed 
and  with  unimpaired  efficiency.  But  it  is  entirely  clear  to  me  that 
this  cannot  be  if  I  accept  the  nomination. 

You  know  how  desirous  I  have  been  that  the  investigation 
should  not  be  colored  by  any  suggestion  of  political  motive.  What- 
ever confidence  it  has  inspired  has  been  due  to  absolute  inde- 
pendence of  political  considerations.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say 
that  an  acceptance  of  this  nomination,  coming  to  me  unsought 
and  despite  an  unequivocal  statement  of  my  position,  would  not 
deflect  from  my  course  by  a  hair's  breadth,  and  that  I  should  re- 
main, and  that  you  intend  that  I  should  remain,  entirely  untram- 
meled.  The  non-political  character  of  the  investigation  and  its 
freedom  from  bias  either  of  fear  or  favor,  not  only  must  exist,  but 
must  be  recognized.  I  cannot  permit  them  by  any  action  of 
mine  to  become  matters  of  debate. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       377 

There  are  abundant  opportunities  for  misconstruction.  Doubt- 
less many  abuses  will  remain  undisclosed,  many  grievous  wrongs 
to  which  the  evidence  points  from  time  to  time  may  be  found 
unsusceptible  of  proof,  many  promising  clues  will  be  taken  up  in 
vain.  Were  I  with  the  best  of  intentions  to  accept  the  nomination, 
it  is  my  conviction  that  the  work  of  the  investigation  would  be 
largely  discredited;  its  motives  would  be  impugned  and  its  integrity 
assailed.  To  many  it  would  appear  that  its  course  would  be  shaped 
and  its  lines  of  inquiry  would  be  chosen,  developed,  or  abandoned  as 
political  ambition  might  prompt  or  political  exigency  demand. 

Such  a  situation  would  be  intolerable.  There  is  only  one  course 
open.  The  legislative  inquiry  must  proceed  with  convincing  dis- 
interestedness. Its  great  opportunities  must  not  be  imperilled  by 
alienating  the  support  to  which  it  is  entitled  or  by  giving  the 
slightest  occasion  for  questioning  the  sincerity  and  single-minded- 
ness  with  which  it  is  conducted. 

There  is,  however,  another  consideration  which  is  to  me  con- 
clusive. The  work  of  the  investigation  is  laborious  and  exacting. 
It  taxes  the  strength  of  the  counsel  of  the  committee  to  its  limit. 
It  is  performed  under  great  strain.  Whatever  success  is  gained  is 
the  result  of  unremitting  toil  and  undivided  attention.  There  is 
no  wizardry  hi  it. 

It  is  idle  to  suppose  that,  if  I  accepted  your  nomination,  I  could 
do  my  part  of  the  work  of  the  investigation  efficiently.  I  may 
be  pardoned  for  saying  that  I  am  a  better  judge  of  what  that  work 
requires  than  any  one  apart  from  my  associates.  It  requires  every 
moment  of  available  time.  It  requires  endeavor  secure  from  in- 
terruption and  a  mind  free  from  distraction.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  make  an  active  canvass, 
that  I  should  not  be  obliged  to  make  a  speech,  to  attend  a  meeting, 
or  even  write  a  letter.  In  effect,  you  ask  me  to  enter  upon  a  cam- 
paign hi  which  important  questions  should  be  discussed  and 
brought  home  to  the  conscience  of  the  people  with  my  mouth 
closed  and  my  hands  tied.  Apart  from  a  natural  disinclination 
to  place  myself  in  such  a  position,  I  believe  the  plan  to  be  wholly 
impracticable.  But,  assuming  it  to  be  carried  out  as  fully  as  is 


378  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

contemplated,  it  would  still  leave  a  large  demand  upon  time  and 
nervous  energy  which  would  be  inexorable  and  would  introduce 
an  element  of  distraction  most  injurious  to  the  investigation.  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  man  lives,  and  certainly  I  am  not  the  man, 
who,  while  a  candidate  for  the  mayoralty,  could  perform  with 
proper  efficiency  that  part  of  the  work  which  has  been  devolved 
upon  me  in  the  pending  inquiry.  If  I  were  to  accept  the  nomina- 
tion for  the  high  office  of  Mayor  of  this  city,  I  should  be  obliged  to 
curtail  this  work,  and  this  I  have  no  right  to  do. 

For  your  expression  of  confidence  I  thank  you.  The  honor  you 
would  confer  upon  me  I  most  highly  esteem.  Your  generous  ap- 
proval and  the  unanimity  and  enthusiasm  with  which  the  nomina- 
tion was  made  I  warmly  appreciate.  But  I  have  assumed  obliga- 
tions of  the  first  importance  which  make  it  impossible  for  me  to 
meet  your  wishes.  I  must  therefore  respectfully  decline  the 
nomination. 


ADDRESS   DELIVERED   BEFORE   CHAMBER   OF  COMMERCE   BY  CHARLES 
W.   ELIOT,   HARVARD   UNIVERSITY 

USES  OF  EDUCATION   FOR   BUSINESS* 

Before  we  can  talk  together  to  advantage  about  the  value  of 
education  in  business,  we  ought  to  come  to  a  common  understanding 
about  the  sort  of  education  we  mean  and  the  sort  of  business. 
Nobody  doubts  that  primary  and  grammar  school  training  are 
useful  to  everybody;  or  that  high  school  training  is  advantageous 
for  a  clerk,  salesman,  commercial  traveler,  or  skilled  workman; 
or  that  technical  or  scientific  school  training  is  useful  to  an  engineer, 
chemist,  electrician,  mechanician,  or  miner.  Our  question  is,  of 
what  use  is  the  education  called  "liberal"  to  a  man  of  business? 
The  education  called  liberal  has  undergone  a  great  expansion 
during  our  generation,  and  is  now,  in  the  best  institutions,  thor- 
oughly conformed  to  modern  uses.  All  universities  worthy  of  the 
name — even  the  oldest  and  most  conservative — now  supply  a 

*By  permission  of  the  author. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       379 

broad  and  free  range  of  studies,  which  includes  the  ancient  sub- 
jects, but  establishes  on  a  perfect  equality  with  them  the  new  and 
vaster  subjects  of  modern  languages  and  literature,  history,  political 
science,  and  natural  science.  We  must  not  think  of  the  liberal 
education  of  to-day  as  dealing  with  a  dead  past — with  dead  lan- 
guages, buried  peoples,  and  exploded  philosophies;  on  the  con- 
trary, everything  which  universities  now  teach  is  quick  with  life 
and  capable  of  application  to  modern  uses.  They  teach  indeed 
the  languages  and  literature  of  Judea  and  Greece  and  Rome;  but 
it  is  because  those  literatures  are  instinct  with  eternal  life.  They 
teach  mathematics,  but  it  is  the  mathematics  mostly  created  within 
the  lifetime  of  the  older  men  here  present.  In  teaching  English, 
French,  and  German  they  are  teaching  the  modem  vehicles  of  all 
learning — just  what  Lathi  was  in  mediaeval  times.  As  to  history, 
political  science,  and  natural  science,  the  subjects  themselves  and 
all  the  methods  by  which  they  are  taught  may  properly  be  said 
to  be  new  within  a  century.  Liberal  education  is  not  to  be  justly 
regarded  as  something  dry,  withered,  and  effete;  it  is  as  full  of  sap 
as  the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 

And  what  sort  of  business  do  we  mean?  Surely  the  larger  sorts 
of  legitimate  and  honorable  business;  that  business  which  is  of 
advantage  to  both  buyer  and  seller,  and  to  producer,  distributor 
and  consumer  alike,  whether  individuals  or  nations,  which  makes 
common  some  useful  thing  which  has  been  rare,  or  makes  accessible 
to  the  masses  good  things  which  have  been  kept  within  reach  only 
of  the  few;  that  great  art  of  production  and  exchange  which  through 
the  centuries  has  increased  human  comfort,  cherished  peace,  fos- 
tered the  fine  arts,  developed  the  pregnant  principle  of  associated 
action,  and  promoted  both  public  security  and  public  property. 

With  this  understanding  of  what  we  mean  by  education  on  the 
one  hand  and  business  on  the  other,  let  us  see  if  there  can  be  any 
doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the  relations  between  them.  The  business 
man  in  large  affairs  needs  keen  observation,  a  quick  mental  grasp 
of  new  subjects,  and  a  wide  range  of  knowledge.  Whence  come 
these  powers  and  attainments — either  to  the  educated  or  to  the 
uneducated— save  through  practice  and  study?  But  education 


380  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

is  only  early  systematic  practice  and  study  under  guidance.  The 
object  of  all  good  education  is  to  develop  just  these  powers — ac- 
curacy in  observation,  quickness  and  certainty  in  seizing  upon  the 
main  points  of  a  new  subject,  and  discrimination  in  separating  the 
trivial  from  the  important  in  great  masses  of  facts.  This  is  what 
liberal  education  does  for  the  physician,  the  lawyer,  the  minister, 
the  scientist.  This  is  what  it  can  do  also  for  the  man  of  business; 
to  give  a  mental  power  is  one  of  the  main  ends  of  the  higher  educa- 
tion. Is  not  active  business  a  field  in  which  mental  power  finds 
full  play?  Again  education  imparts  knowledge,  and  who  has 
greater  need  to  know  economics,  history,  and  natural  science  than 
the  man  of  business? 

Farther,  liberal  education  develops  a  sense  of  right,  duty,  and 
honor;  and  more  and  more,  in  the  modern  world,  large  business 
rests  on  rectitude  and  honor,  as  well  as  on  good  judgment.  Educa- 
tion does  this  through  the  contemplation  and  study  of  the  moral 
ideals  of  our  race;  not  in  drowsiness  or  dreaminess  or  in  mere  vague 
enjoyment  of  poetic  and  religious  abstractions,  but  in  the  resolute 
purpose  to  apply  spiritual  ideals  to  actual  life.  The  true  univer- 
sity fosters  ideals,  but  always  to  urge  that  they  be  put  into  practice 
in  the  real  world.  When  the  universities  hold  up  before  their  youth 
the  great  Semitic  ideals  which  were  embodied  in  the  Decalogue,  they 
mean  that  those  ideals  should  be  applied  in  politics.  When  they 
teach  their  young  men  that  Asiatic  ideal  of  unknown  antiquity, 
the  Golden  Rule,  they  mean  that  their  disciples  shall  apply  it  to 
business;  when  they  inculcate  that  comprehensive  maxim  of 
Christian  ethics,  "Ye  are  all  members  of  one  another,"  they  mean 
that  this  moral  principle  is  applicable  to  all  human  relations, 
whether  between  individuals,  families,  states,  or  nations. 

Again,  higher  education  has  always  made  great  account  of  the 
power  of  expression  in  speech  and  writing,  whence  has  risen  an 
opinion  that  liberal  education  must  be  less  useful  to  the  man  of 
business  than  to  the  lawyer  or  minister,  because  the  business  man 
has  less  need  than  they  of  this  power.  Have  we  not  all  seen,  in 
recent  years,  that  leading  men  of  business,  particularly  those  who 
act  for  corporations,  have  great  need  of  a  highly  trained  mind  of 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       381 

clear  and  convincing  expression?  Business  men  need  in  speech 
and  writing  all  the  Roman  terseness  and  French  clearness;  the 
graces  and  elegancies  of  literary  style  they  may  indeed  dispense 
with,  but  not  with  the  greater  qualities  of  compactness,  accuracy, 
and  vigor.  It  is  a  liberal  education  indeed  which  teaches  a  youth 
of  fair  parts  and  reasonable  industry  to  speak  and  write  his  native 
language  strongly,  accurately,  and  persuasively.  That  one  at- 
tainment is  sufficient  reward  for  the  whole  long  course  of  twelve 
years  spent  in  liberal  study. 

But  you  say:  This  is  all  theory;  what  are  the  facts  with  regard 
to  the  connection  between  higher  education  and  successful  business 
life?  Among  the  young  men  who  have  graduated  from  Harvard 
University  within  forty  years  there  have  been  many  cases  of  rapid 
advancement  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of  the  business  corpora- 
tions in  great  variety.  A  young  man  leaves  college  at  twenty-three 
and  goes  into  a  cotton  mill  at  the  bottom;  and  in  four  years  he  is 
superintendent.  Another  lands  in  a  western  city,  three  days 
after  his  graduation,  without  a  dollar,  and  without  a  friend  in  the 
city,  and  ten  years  afterward  he  is  the  owner  of  the  best  establish- 
ment for  printing  books  in  that  city.  A  young  man  six  years  out  of 
college  is  superintendent  of  one  of  the  largest  woolen  mills  in  the 
United  States.  Another  a  little  older  is  the  manager  of  one  of 
the  most  important  steel  works  in  the  country.  These  are  but 
striking  examples  of  a  large  class  of  facts. 

Successful  business  men  themselves  give  no  doubtful  answer  to 
the  questions  we  are  considering.  Successful  business  men,  with 
the  rarest  exceptions,  wish  their  sons  to  be  educated  to  the  highest 
point  the  sons  can  reach.  No  matter  whether  the  father  be  himself 
an  educated  man  or  not,  when  his  success  in  business  has  given  him 
the  means  of  educating  his  children  he  is  sure  to  desire  that  they 
receive  a  liberal  education  whether  they  are  going  into  business 
or  not. 

Finally,  liberal  education  is  an  end  in  itself  apart  from  all  its 
utilities  and  applications.  When  we  teach  a  child  to  read,  our  pri- 
mary aim  is  not  to  decipher  a  way-bill  or  a  receipt,  but  to  kindle  its 
imagination,  enlarge  its  vision,  and  open  for  it  the  avenues  of 


382  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

knowledge.  The  same  is  true  of  a  liberal  education  in  its  utmost 
reach.  Its  chief  objects  for  the  individual  are  development,  in- 
spiration, and  exaltation;  the  practical  advantages  which  flow  from 
it  are  incidental,  not  paramount. 

For  the  community  the  institutions  of  higher  learning  do  a  like 
service.  They  bring  each  successive  generation  of  youth  up  to 
levels  of  knowledge  and  righteousness  which  the  preceding  genera- 
tion reached  in  their  maturity.  Public  comfort,  ease  and  wealth 
are  doubly  promoted  by  them;  but  their  true  and  sufficient 
ends  are  knowledge  and  righteousness. 


SPEECH   BY  HORACE   GREELEY  AT  THE  FRANKLIN  BANQUET, 
NEW  YORK,    1870 

Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  if  I  were  required  to  say  for  which 
of  Franklin's  achievements  he  deserved  most  and  best  of  man- 
kind, I  should  award  the  palm  to  his  autobiography — so  frank, 
so  sunny,  so  irradiated  by  a  brave,  blithe,  hearty  humanity.  For  if 
our  fathers  had  not — largely  by  the  aid  of  his  counsel,  his  labors, 
his  sacrifices — achieved  their  independence  at  the  first  effort,  they 
would  have  tried  it  again  and  again  until  they  did  achieve  it;  if  he 
had  not  made  his  immortal  discovery  of  the  identity  of  electricity 
with  lightning,  that  truth  would  nevertheless  have  been  at  length 
demonstrated;  but  if  he  had  not  so  modestly  and  sweetly  told  us 
how  to  wrestle  with  poverty  and  compel  opportunity,  I  do  not 
know  who  beside  would  or  could  have  done  it  so  well.  There  is  not 
to-day,  there  will  not  be  in  this  nor  hi  the  next  century,  a  friend- 
less, humble  orphan,  working  hard  for  naked  daily  bread,  and  glad 
to  improve  his  leisure  hours  hi  the  corner  of  a  garret,  whom  that 
biography  will  not  cheer  and  strengthen  to  fight  the  battle  of  life 
buoyantly  and  manfully.  I  wish  some  human  tract  society  would 
present  a  copy  to  every  poor  lad  in  the  United  States. 

But  I  must  not  detain  you.  Let  me  sum  up  the  character  of 
Franklin  in  the  fewest  words  that  will  serve  me.  I  love  and  revere 
him  as  a  journeyman  printer  who  was  frugal  and  didn't  drink;  a 
parvenu  who  rose  from  want  to  competence,  from  obscurity  to 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       383 

fame,  without  losing  his  head;  a  statesman  who  did  not  crucify 
mankind  with  longwinded  documents  or  speeches;  a  diplomatist 
who  did  not  intrigue;  a  philosopher  who  never  loved,  and  an  office- 
holder who  did  not  steal.  So  regarding  him,  I  respond  to  your 
sentiment  with  "Honor  to  the  memory  of  Franklin." 

"The  World's  Best  Orations,"  Copyright  by  Ferd.  P.  Kaiser 
Pub.  Go. 


ADDRESS  BY  HENRY  VAN  DYKE 
COMMERCE* 

There  is  a  nobility  of  trade  which  has  its  traditions  of  glory,  its 
laws  of  honor,  its  history  of  usefulness,  and  its  purpose  of  beneficence 
to  all  mankind.  There  is  an  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece  to  which 
the  world  owes  its  greatest  discoveries  and  its  largest  advances  in 
civilization.  It  was  founded  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece,  but  it 
has  survived  to  the  present  day,  and  we  need  not  look  far  to  find 
its  knights  of  labor,  of  adventure,  of  honor,  and  of  generous  succor 
to  the  oppressed. 

Who  sneers  at  commerce?  Is  it  the  lover  of  liberty?  Let  him 
remember  that  the  greatest  battles  for  freedom  have  been  fought 
by  mercantile  nations.  It  was  commercial  Holland  that  defied 
the  tyranny  of  Spain;  it  was  the  merchantmen  of  England  that 
shattered  the  Armada  on  the  stormy  waters  of  the  channel;  it  was 
a  band  of  trading  colonies  that  set  up  the  standard  of  liberty  in 
the  new  world;  and  but  for  the  freely  offered  wealth — and  the 
nobly  sacrificed  lives — of  our  mercantile  classes,  I  leave  it  to  you  to 
say  whether  our  new  Republic  would  not  now  be  dismembered 
and  dishonored. 

Who  sneers  at  commerce?  Is  it  the  devotee  of  learning?  Let 
him  remember  that  it  was  the  traders  of  Phoenicia  who  gave  let- 
ters to  Greece;  it  was  the  maritime  states  of  Greece  who  adorned 
the  world  with  poetry,  and  philosophy,  and  art;  it  was  the  age  of 
England's  commercial  supremacy  which  brought  the  highest 

*By  permission  of  the  author. 


384  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

glory  to  her  universities.  It  is  in  great  part  the  liberality  of  mer- 
chants which  has  established  on  our  shores  those  great  institutions 
of  learning — Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia,  Cornell.  Let 
him  remember  the  little  commercial  city  of  Leyden,  and  her  im- 
perishable example.  For  when  her  heroic  siege  was  ended — when 
she  had  won  her  unparalleled  victories  against  armies,  ships,  can- 
non, pestilence,  flood,  and  famine — when  the  Prince  of  Orange  in 
his  unbounded  gratitude  came  and  asked  her  to  choose  her  reward — 
that  little  city  of  Dutch  merchants  chose  not  gold,  nor  freedom 
from  taxes,  but  a  university,  and  the  reward  of  her  defense  became 
the  light  of  Europe.  Who  sneers  at  commerce?  Is  it  the  friend 
of  peace?  Let  him  remember  that  commerce  has  created  and 
established  the  system  of  international  law;  that  there  is  no  spot  of 
land  to-day  upon  which  the  rights  of  property  and  person  are  more 
secure  than  upon  the  high  seas.  Let  him  remember  that  "every 
ship  that  sails  the  ocean  is  a  pledge  of  peace  to  the  extent  of  its 
value;  every  white  sail  a  more  appropriate  symbol  of  peace  than 
the  olive  branch  itself." 

Who  sneers  at  commerce?  Is  it  the  preacher  of  Christianity? 
Let  him  remember  that  it  was  the  trade  of  Thessalonica  which 
caused  the  gospel  to  sound  forth  from  that  city  into  all  the  world; 
it  was  the  enterprise  of  commerce  which  opened  the  closed  gates  of 
China,  and  Japan,  and  Corea,  to  the  missionary,  and  made  possible 
those  triumphant  advances  of  Christianity  of  which  we  are  begin- 
ning to  hear  the  first  footfalls,  and  for  whose  completion  we  must 
look  to  the  consecrated  wealth  of  mercantile  communities.  Let 
the  church  understand  her  opportunity  and  her  task.  Convert 
commerce  and  you  have  found  "The  Knight-Errant  of  the  Cross." 
Convince  those  who  reap  the  honorable  gains  of  trade  that  their 
wealth  has  its  sacred  obligation  as  well  as  its  great  privileges,  that 
the  richest  man  is  not  he  who  has  the  most  money,  but  he  who 
makes  the  best  use  of  what  he  has,  that  great  possessions  are  a 
royal  trust  from  God  to  be  employed  for  the  benefit  of  mankind, 
and  then  the  noble  order  of  true  commerce  will  become  the  trans- 
forming and  uplifting  power  of  our  modern  civilization. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       385 

PART  OF  ADDRESS   BEFORE   COLLEGE  WOMEN'S  RALLY  IN  INTEREST 

OF   GOUCHER  COLLEGE* 
BY  M.    CAREY  THOMAS,    PRESIDENT  OF  BRYN  MAWR  COLLEGE 

Madam  Chairman  of  the  Women's  Campaign  Committee,  College 
Women  of  the  Goucher  Faculty,  Goucher  College  Students, 
Fellow  College  Women  of  Baltimore,  and  Friends  who  have 
met  with  us: 

We  have  come  together  to-night  to  devise  ways  and  means  of 
saving  Goucher  College.  Since  1888  Goucher  College  has  been 
doing  its  work  in  our  midst.  Goucher  has  practically  never  had 
any  endowment.  It  is  only  by  tremendous  sacrifices  of  personal 
effort  and  private  means  that  Goucher  has  been  enabled  to  give  to 
the  girls  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  other  states  an  excellent 
college  education.  For  the  past  twenty-four  years  we  have  seen 
the  College  literally  making  bricks  without  straw  before  our  eyes. 
Without  visible  resources  or  endowment  stately  building  has  been 
added  to  stately  building,  well-equipped  laboratory  to  well-equipped 
laboratory.  Under  the  shadow  of  our  great  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity, inspired  by  its  traditions  and  helped  by  its  teaching,  Goucher 
has  maintained  a  faculty  of  men  and  women  scholars  of  peculiar 
fitness.  Despite  its  failing  fortunes  they  have  stood  by  the  college, 
accepting  small  salaries  in  return  for  academic  freedom  and  congenial 
work.  Quietly  and  without  advertisement  Goucher  College  has 
been  doing  its  good  work.  .  .  . 

The  time  has  surely  now  come  for  Baltimore  and  Maryland  to 
take  over  Goucher  College  as  a  gift  of  inestimable  value,  to  support 
it  generously,  and  makes  it  truly  their  own.  All  the  great  and 
prosperous  states  of  the  United  States  maintain  colleges  for  women 
within  their  territory.  And  those  that  have  no  women's  colleges 
are  now  making  great  sacrifices  to  found  them.  Only  by  a  college 
education  can  the  women  of  a  modern  state  be  fitted  to  bear  and 
rear  sons  and  daughters  who  will  make  it  enlightened  and  prosper- 
ous. Only  so  can  the  women  teachers  of  a  state  be  fitted  to  teach 

*By  permission  of  the  author. 


386  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

its  children  as  they  should  be  taught.  Only  so  can  the  women 
of  a  state  themselves  be  fitted  to  meet  their  heavy  civic  respon- 
sibilities. 

All  Maryland's  great  northern,  middle,  and  western  neighbors 
(except  Delaware,  which  has  only  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
men  studying  in  its  one  college,  and  New  Jersey)  are  educating 
their  women  in  their  own  colleges.  .  .  . 

In  many  far  western  and  Pacific  coast  states  there  is  not  a  single 
college  in  the  state  that  is  not  open  to  women.  Its  college-bred 
young  men  and  women  are  rapidly  bringing  prosperity  and  com- 
mercial success  to  the  west.  A  friend  of  mine,  a  wise  and  much 
traveled  woman,  told  me  a  few  years  ago  that  she  had  had  occasion 
to  go  through  the  state  of  Kansas  twice  at  an  interval  of  thirty 
years,  staying  in  the  families  of  Kansas  farmers  on  each  visit.  The 
first  time  she  found  discouragement,  worn-out  wives,  tired  and 
silent  husbands,  and  ill  cared  for  children.  The  second  tune,  after 
thirty  years'  interval,  the  farmers'  homes  were  transformed.  Books 
and  magazines  were  everywhere.  Both  farmers  and  farmers'  wives 
had  been  graduated  from  the  state  university.  They  were  intellec- 
tually alert  and  materially  successful;  the  children  were  receiving 
the  best  possible  schooling  and  boys  and  girls  alike  were  headed 
straight  for  the  state  university.  Everywhere  she  found  hope  and 
confidence,  intellectual  interest  and  curiosity,  happiness  and 
prosperity. 

How  is  it  possible  at  a  time  like  this  when  we  are  really  begin- 
ning to  understand  what  the  college  education  of  women  means  to 
a  community  that  our  own  state  of  Maryland  should  stand  by  and 
see  Goucher  College  closed  for  lack  of  $230,000?  How  is  it  possible 
that  the  city  of  Baltimore  can  seriously  consider  losing  Goucher 
College?  At  the  present  time  the  only  five  cities  in  the  United 
States  which  have  the  distinction  of  possessing  two  or  more  colleges 
belonging  to  Class  I  are  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago 
and  Baltimore.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  estimate  how  much  this 
means  to  a  great  city  in  prestige,  commercial  prosperity,  and  true 
progress.  Within  the  past  few  years  the  great  English  commercial 
cities  of  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and  Birmingham  have  poured  out 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL         387 

money  like  water  to  support  their  recently  founded  great  city 
universities  which  are  giving  an  excellent  college  education  to  their 
sons  and  daughters.  No  great  city  can  afford  nowadays  not  to 
provide  liberally  for  the  college  education  of  its  girls.  .  .  . 

Women's  colleges  are  in  a  very  different  position  from  men's 
colleges.  Almost  all  large  fortunes  are  in  the  hands  of  men,  and 
very  few  men  realize  as  yet  the  necessity  of  giving  girls  a  thorough 
college  education.  Wealthy  men  are  continually  giving  large  sums 
to  men's  colleges.  Wealthy  women  give  to  men's  education  in 
memory  of  their  fathers,  husbands  or  sons  more  frequently  and  in 
larger  amounts  than  wealthy  men  give  to  women's  education. 
Men's  colleges  also  receive  large  gifts  from  their  alumni.  Unlike 
men's  colleges,  it  is  impossible  for  women's  colleges  to  appeal  for 
funds  to  then*  wealthy  graduates.  Women,  especially  young 
women,  have  not  the  disposal  of  much  money.  They  are  not 
engaged  in  business.  Each  dollar  raised  by  a  college  for  women 
represents  many  times  the  effort  of  a  dollar  raised  by  a  college  for 
men.  Women's  colleges  are  one  and  all  inadequately  endowed. 
And  yet  women's  colleges  must  be  adequately  endowed  because 
wherever  the  choice  is  given,  as  in  the  east  of  the  United  States, 
parents  and  girls  themselves  seem  to  prefer  separate  colleges  for 
women  to  co-educational  colleges.  Unless  women's  colleges  are 
as  liberally  endowed  as  men's  colleges  women  studying  in  them 
will  receive  an  inferior  education.  Our  hope  for  the  future  lies  in 
great  part  in  the  girls  now  in  college.  They  will  be  the  leaders  of 
thought  and  of  action  among  women.  We  cannot  possibly  give 
them  an  education  too  broad  or  too  deep. 

After  all  what  do  college  women  mean  to  a  community?  What 
do  Goucher  graduates  mean  to  Baltimore?  If  we  study  the  occu- 
pations of  the  graduates  of  Goucher  College  we  find  that  about 
thirty-five  and  one-half  per  cent  are  married;  about  twenty-seven 
and  one-half  per  cent  are  teaching;  about  five  per  cent  are  doing 
social  and  religious  work  as  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association 
secretaries,  missionaries,  social  workers,  etc.;  about  two  and  one- 
third  per  cent  are  engaged  in  business;  and  about  twenty-eight 
per  cent  are  unmarried  and  engaged  in  no  wage-earning  occupation. 


388  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

Our  knowledge  of  similar  statistics  makes  us  reasonably  sure  that 
about  fifty  per  cent  of  these  Goucher  graduates,  and  also  of  their 
sisters  who  have  not  been  to  college,  will  in  time  marry.  Marriage 
seems  to  depend  not  on  college  education  but  on  social  surround- 
ings. Careful  studies  of  thousands  of  college  women  and  their 
sisters,  or  women  relatives  nearest  in  age,  show  that  marriage 
depends  on  the  social  group  and  is  not  affected  by  whether  men  or 
women  have  been  to  college.  College  women  marry  a  year  or  two 
later  than  their  non-college-bred  sisters,  but  they  seem  to  marry 
better  educated  men,  that  is,  more  men  who  have  been  to  college, 
which  we  should  expect,  and  also  men  who  are  making  larger  in- 
comes than  the  men  whom  their  non-college-bred  sisters  marry, 
perhaps  because  they  are  less  dependent  on  marriage  for  support 
and  can  choose  more  deliberately.  Also  our  statistics  show  that 
college  women  average  a  fraction  more  children  per  marriage,  and 
that  fewer  of  their  children  die  in  infancy,  also  that  there  are  fewer 
breakdowns  after  marriage  among  college  women  than  among  their 
non-college-bred  sisters.  A  new  statistical  study  based  on  ten  thou- 
sand college  women  is  now  set  up  in  type  and  will  be  published  in  a 
few  months.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  college  mothers, 
like  college  fathers,  make  the  best  parents  in  the  world.  Also 
college  women  are  hi  a  position  to  select  the  best  fathers  for  their 
children  because  they  can  support  themselves  without  marrying 
the  wrong  man.  If  we  believe,  as  we  all  must,  in  eugenics  (proper 
heredity),  and  euthenics  (proper  environment),  how  can  we  not 
believe  that  college-bred  mothers  are  of  inestimable  value  in  a 
community?  Think  also  of  the  other  multifold  social  and  civic 
activities  that  these  college  mothers  will  engage  in.  They  will 
have  leisure,  opportunity,  and  training.  College  men  have  train- 
ing, but  it  is  very  seldom  that  they  have  the  necessary  leisure. 
The  late  Mrs.  Sarah  Platt  Decker,  who  was  president  of  the  Fed- 
eration of  Women's  Clubs  for  so  long,  was  not  herself  a  college 
woman,  but  she  used  often  to  say  in  public  that  wherever  she  went 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  United  States  the  young 
college  women  were  what  she  called  "West  Pointers,"  and  were 
leading  other  women  in  the  great  battle  of  civilization.  Reformers 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       389 

tell  me  that  however  remote  may  be  the  town  they  visit,  however 
desperate  the  cause  they  champion,  whether  it  be  child  labor, 
factory  legislation,  or  consumers'  league  agitation,  good  roads,  pure 
food,  or  white  slavery,  there  is  always  some  college  woman  there 
ready  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  good  citizenship  and  turn  defeat  into 
victory.  Wherever  I  go  in  this  country  or  abroad  men  and  women 
introduce  themselves  to  me  to  tell  me  of  the  good  works  of  some 
Bryn  Mawr  graduate  who  has  married  and  is  living  perhaps  in  some 
frontier  town.  All  presidents  of  women's  colleges  have  a  like 
experience. 

When  we  speak  in  this  way  of  college  women  we  do  not  mean 
that  women  who  have  not  been  to  college  are  not  in  many  cases  as 
efficient  and  generally  serviceable.  They  are.  But  what  we  do 
mean  is  that,  given  the  same  brain  power,  the  same  energy,  the 
same  love  for  human  service,  the  same  gracious,  womanly  character, 
a  college  education  raises  all  the  wonderful  personality  of  such  a 
woman,  as  of  such  a  man,  to  the  nth  power,  and  moreover  often 
makes  of  a  very  ordinary  sort  of  person  a  well-trained  and  efficient 
instrument  and  also  a  very  happy  human  being.  No  truly  loving 
parents  should  be  satisfied  without  sending  their  girls  to  college, 
whatever  they  may  do  with  then*  boys.  It  is  the  best  imaginable 
kind  of  insurance  for  a  woman  against  unhappiness  and  ill 
fortune. 

The  fifty  per  cent  of  Goucher  graduates  who,  in  all  probability, 
will  not  marry  will  be  in  the  main  self-supporting  citizens  of  Mary- 
land. Over  one-half  of  them  will  become  enthusiastic,  effective 
teachers  of  the  children  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  neighboring 
states;  others  will  carry  on  the  social  and  reform  work  of  the  city 
of  Baltimore.  The  annual  incomes  of  these  college  women  will 
average  from  $1,000  to  $1,500  a  year  for  at  least  forty  years.  Each 
wage-earning  college  woman  will  add  from  $40,000  to  $60,000  in 
cash  to  the  yield  of  the  state  in  which  she  lives.  Our  statistics 
show  that  college  women  earn  at  least  as  much  as  this  and  also  that 
they  are  longer  lived  than  other  women,  and  thus  continue  their 
work  over  a  larger  period  of  time.  The  commercial  value  of  the 
college  women  in  any  state  can  be  roughly  approximated,  but  their 


390  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

spiritual  and  mental  value  to  our  city  and  our  state  is  beyond  our 
calculation. 

We  may  perhaps  think  that  our  Baltimore  girls  can  get  a  college 
education  by  going  to  college  outside  of  the  state — say  two  hours 
by  rail  to  Bryn  Mawr,  or  four  hours  by  rail  to  New  York,  but  this 
is  not  the  case.  A  study  was  made  in  1912  of  the  incomes  of  the 
families  of  the  boys  and  girls  studying  in  the  college  department  of 
the  great  municipal  university  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  It  was 
found  that  thirty-five  per  cent  came  from  homes  where  the  family 
income  was  less  than  $1,500  a  year  and  forty  per  cent  from  homes 
where  the  total  family  income  was  from  $1,500  to  $2,500.  Such 
boys  and  girls  cannot  possibly  leave  home  to  go  to  college.  More- 
over, every  college  creates  its  own  students  and  becomes  a  center 
of  intellectual  light  in  its  own  community.  Bryn  Mawr  College 
is  filling  Philadelphia  with  college  graduates  who  would  never  have 
gone  to  college  had  the  college  not  been  at  then*  very  doors.  The 
public  schools  of  Philadelphia  now  prepare  girls  for  Bryn  Mawr 
College  and  the  Philadelphia  girls'  high  school  has  become  one  of 
the  best  college  preparatory  schools  in  the  United  States.  Bryn 
Mawr's  graduates  are  teaching  in  most  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
state.  When  Bryn  Mawr  opened  in  1885  there  was  not  a  high 
school  in  the  state  which  taught  Latin,  French  or  German.  There 
was  not  a  private  school  that  could  prepare  girls  for  college.  This 
is  equally  true  of  Goucher  College.  When  Goucher  opened  in  1888 
the  Bryn  Mawr  School  of  Baltimore,  founded  in  1885,  was  the 
only  school  in  Maryland  that  could  prepare  for  college.  Now 
ambitious  girls  in  every  part  of  Maryland,  and,  above  all,  in  Balti- 
more, look  to  Goucher  College  as  the  goal  of  their  desire.  Thirty- 
three  graduates  of  the  Baltimore  high  schools  entered  its  freshman 
class  this  autumn.  Let  us  stop  to  think  what  it  means  to  a  city  to 
have  its  girls  inspired  to  train  themselves  for  life  in  such  a  college. 
Think  what  it  means  for  the  next  generation  to  be  born  of  college 
educated  mothers.  .  .  . 

We  who  gather  here  to-night,  we  college  women  of  Baltimore, 
know  from  our  own  experience  what  the  closing  of  Goucher  College 
will  mean  to  the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  to  the  girls  of  Baltimore. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       391 

It  will  mean  to  the  girls  of  Baltimore  the  shutting  of  an  open  door 
of  splendid  opportunity  of  special  training  for  wifehood,  motherhood, 
social  service,  and  happy  self-support.  It  will  mean  to  the  city  of 
Baltimore  and  the  state  of  Maryland  a  degradation  of  its  school 
system  because  of  lack  of  college-trained  teachers,  a  lessening  of  its 
intelligent  birth  rate,  a  marked  diminution  of  its  activities  for  social 
betterment,  a  lowering  of  its  commercial  and  moral  supremacy. 
It  will  mean  the  passing  from  our  midst  of  Goucher  College  and  the 
shining  vision  of  women's  college  education  which  Dr.  Goucher 
has  called  into  being  for  us  with  the  flame  of  a  great  desire  and  a  still 
greater  achievement. 

We  college  women  cannot  let  this  terrible  misfortune  befall  our 
beloved  Baltimore.  Let  us  pledge  ourselves  to-night  to  use  all 
our  powers  of  persuasion  and  reasoning  in  presenting  the  case  of 
Goucher  College  to  everyone  who  has  the  power  to  avert  this  great 
catastrophe.  The  great  sum  of  $770,000  has  already  been  condi- 
tionally promised.  This  three-quarters  of  a  million  will  all  collapse 
and  fall  to  pieces  like  a  dome  of  shivered  glass  if  the  remaining 
$230,000  cannot  be  obtained.  What  will  each  one  in  this  audience 
do  to  save  Goucher  College? 

CLOSING     SPEECH     OF     PROGRESSIVE     NATIONAL     CAMPAIGN,      1912, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE   16,000  PEOPLE  IN  MADISON  SQUARE 

GARDEN,  NEW  YORK,  BY  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.* 

Friends,  perhaps  once  in  a  generation,  perhaps  not  so  often,  there 
comes  a  chance  for  the  people  of  a  country  to  play  their  part  wisely 
and  fearlessly  in  some  great  battle  of  the  age-long  warfare  for 
human  rights.  To  our  fathers  the  chance  came  in  the  mighty 
days  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  the  man  who  thought  and  toiled  and 
suffered  for  the  people  with  a  sad,  patient  and  kindly  endeavor. 
To  our  forefathers  the  chance  came  in  the  troubled  years  that 
stretched  from  the  tune  when  the  first  Continental  Congress 
gathered  to  the  time  when  Washington  was  inaugurated  as  first 
President  of  the  Republic. 

*By  permission  of  the  author. 


392  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

To  us  in  our  turn  the  chance  has  now  come  to  stand  for  liberty 
and  righteousness  as  in  their  day  these  dead  men  stood  for  liberty 
and  righteousness.  Our  task  is  not  as  great  as  theirs.  Yet  it  is 
well-nigh  as  important.  Our  task  is  to  profit  by  the  lessons  of  the 
past  and  to  check  in  time  the  evils  that  grow  around  us,  lest  our 
failure  to  do  so  may  cause  dreadful  disaster  to  the  people.  We 
must  not  sit  supine  and  helpless. 

We  must  not  permit  the  brutal  selfishness  of  arrogance  and  the 
brutal  selfishness  of  envy  each  to  run  unchecked  its  evil  course.  If 
we  do  so,  then  some  day  smoldering  hatred  will  suddenly  kindle 
into  a  consuming  flame,  and  either  we  or  our  children  will  be  called 
on  to  face  a  crisis  as  grim  as  any  which  this  Republic  has  ever 
seen. 

It  is  our  business  to  show  that  nine-tenths  of  wisdom  consists  in 
being  wise  in  time.  Woe  to  our  Nation  if  we  let  matters  drift,  if 
in  our  industrial  and  political  life  we  let  an  unchecked  and  utterly 
selfish  individualistic  materialism  riot  to  its  appointed  end!  That 
end  would  be  widespread  disaster,  for  it  would  mean  that  our 
people  would  be  sundered  by  those  dreadful  lines  of  division  which 
are  drawn  when  the  selfish  greed  of  the  haves  is  set  over  against  the 
selfish  greed  of  the  havenots.  There  is  but  one  way  to  prevent 
such  a  division,  and  that  is  to  forestall  it  by  the  kind  of  movement 
in  which  we  are  now  engaged. 

Our  movement  is  one  of  resolute  insistence  upon  the  rights  and 
full  acknowledgment  of  the  duties  of  every  man  and  every  woman 
within  this  great  land  of  ours.  We  war  against  the  forces  of  evil, 
and  the  weapons  we  use  are  the  weapons  of  right.  We  do  not  set 
greed  against  greed  or  hatred  against  hatred.  Our  creed  is  one 
that  bids  us  be  just  to  all,  to  feel  sympathy  for  all,  and  to  strive  for 
an  understanding  of  the  needs  of  all. 

Our  purpose  is  to  smite  down  wrong.  But  toward  those  who 
have  done  the  wrong  we  feel  only  the  kindliest  charity  that  is  com- 
patible with  causing  the  wrong  to  cease.  We  preach  hatred  to  no 
man,  and  the  spirit  in  which  we  work  is  as  far  removed  from  vin- 
dictiveness  as  from  weakness.  We  are  resolute  to  do  away  with  the 
evil,  and  we  intend  to  proceed  with  such  wise  and  cautious  sanity 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       393 

as  will  cause  the  very  minimum  of  disturbance  that  is  compatible 
with  achieving  our  purpose. 

Do  not  forget,  friends,  that  we  are  not  proposing  to  substitute 
law  for  character.  We  are  merely  proposing  to  buttress  character 
by  law.  We  fully  recognize  that,  as  has  been  true  in  the  past,  so 
it  is  true  now,  and  ever  will  be  true,  the  prime  factor  in  each 
man's  or  woman's  success  must  normally  be  that  man's  or 
woman's  own  character — character,  the  sum  of  many  qualities, 
but  above  all  of  the  qualities  of  honesty,  of  courage  and  of  com- 
mon sense. 

Nothing  will  avail  a  nation  if  there  is  not  the  right  type  of  char- 
acter among  the  average  men  and  women,  the  plain  people,  the 
hard-working,  decent-living,  right-thinking  people,  who  make  up 
the  great  bulk  of  our  citizenship.  I  know  my  countrymen;  I  know 
that  they  are  of  this  type.  But  it  is  in  civil  life,  as  it  is  in  war.  In 
war  it  is  the  man  behind  the  gun  that  counts  most,  and  yet  he  can- 
not do  his  work  unless  he  has  the  right  kind  of  gun.  In  civil  life, 
in  the  everyday  life  of  our  Nation,  it  is  individual  character  which 
counts  most;  and  yet  the  individual  character  cannot  avail  unless 
in  addition  thereto  there  lie  ready  to  hand  the  social  weapons  which 
can  be  forged  only  by  law  and  by  public  opinion  operating  through 
and  operated  upon  by  law. 

Again,  friends,  do  not  forget  that  we  are  proposing  no  new 
principles.  The  doctrines  we  preach  reach  back  to  the  Golden 
Rule  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  They  reach  back  to  the 
Commandments  delivered  at  Sinai.  All  that  we  are  doing  is  to 
apply  those  doctrines  in  the  shape  necessary  to  make  them  avail- 
able for  meeting  the  living  issues  of  our  own  day.  We  decline  to 
be  bound  by  the  empty  little  cut-and-dried  formulas  of  bygone 
philosophies,  useful  once,  perhaps,  but  useless  now. 

Our  purpose  is  to  shackle  greedy  cunning  as  we  shackle  brutal 
force,  and  we  are  not  to  be  diverted  from  this  purpose  by  the  appeal 
to  the  dead  dogmas  of  a  vanished  past.  We  propose  to  lift  the 
burdens  from  the  lowly  and  the  weary,  from  the  poor  and  the 
oppressed.  We  propose  to  stand  for  the  sacred  rights  of  childhood 
and  womanhood.  Nay,  more,  we  propose  to  see  that  manhood 


394  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

is  not  crushed  out  of  the  men  who  toil,  by  excessive  hours  of 
labor,  by  underpayment,  by  injustice  and  oppression. 

When  this  purpose  can  only  be  secured  by  the  collective  action 
of  our  people  through  their  governmental  agencies,  we  propose  so 
to  secure  it.  We  brush  aside  the  arguments  of  those  who  seek  to 
bar  action  by  the  repetition  of  some  formula  about  "States'  rights" 
or  about  "the  history  of  liberty"  being  "the  history  of  the  limita- 
tion of  governmental  power,"  or  about  the  duty  of  the  courts 
finally  to  determine  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution.  We  are  for 
human  rights  and  we  intend  to  work  for  them  hi  efficient  fashion. 

Where  they  can  be  best  obtained  by  the  application  of  the 
doctrines  of  States'  rights,  then  we  are  for  States'  rights.  Where, 
in  order  to  obtain  them,  it  is  necessary  to  invoke  the  power  of  the 
Nation,  then  we  shall  invoke  to  its  uttermost  limits  that  mighty 
power.  We  are  for  liberty.  But  we  are  for  the  liberty  of  the  op- 
pressed, and  not  for  the  liberty  of  the  oppressor  to  oppress  the 
weak  and  to  bind  burdens  on  the  shoulders  of  the  heavy  laden. 
It  is  idle  to  ask  us  not  to  exercise  the  power  of  the  Government 
when  only  by  the  power  of  the  Government  can  we  curb  the  greed 
that  sits  in  high  places,  when  only  by  the  exercise  of  the  Govern- 
ment can  we  exalt  the  lowly  and  give  heart  to  the  humble  and  the 
down-trodden. 

We  care  for  facts  and  not  for  formulas.  We  care  for  deeds  and 
not  for  words.  We  recognize  no  sacred  right  of  oppression.  We 
recognize  no  divine  right  to  work  injustice.  We  stand  for  the 
Constitution.  We  recognize  that  one  of  its  most  useful  functions 
is  the  protection  of  property.  But  we  will  not  consent  to  make  of 
the  Constitution  a  fetish  for  the  protection  of  fossilized  wrong.  We 
call  the  attention  of  those  who  thus  interpret  it  to  the  fact  that, 
in  that  great  instrument  of  justice,  life  and  liberty  are  put  on  a  full 
level  with  property,  indeed,  are  enumerated  ahead  of  it  in  the  order 
of  their  importance. 

We  stand  for  an  upright  judiciary.  But  where  the  Judges  claim 
the  right  to  make  our  laws  by  finally  interpreting  them,  by  finally 
deciding  whether  or  not  we  have  the  power  to  make  them,  then  we 
claim  the  right  ourselves  to  exercise  that  power.  We  forbid  any 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       395 

men,  no  matter  what  their  official  position  may  be,  to  usurp  the 
right  which  is  ours,  the  right  which  is  the  people's.  We  recognize 
in  neither  court  nor  Congress,  nor  President,  any  divine  right  to 
override  the  will  of  the  people  expressed  with  due  deliberation  in 
orderly  fashion  and  through  the  forms  of  law.  We  Progressives 
hold  that  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  given 
effect  to  by  Washington  and  as  construed  and  applied  by  Abraham 
Lincoln,  are  to  be  accepted  as  real,  and  not  as  empty  phrases. 

We  believe  that  hi  very  truth  this  is  a  government  by  the  people 
themselves,  that  the  Constitution  is  theirs,  that  the  courts  are 
theirs,  that  all  the  governmental  agents  and  agencies  are  theirs. 
We  believe  that  all  true  leaders  of  the  people  must  fearlessly  stand 
for  righteousness  and  honesty,  must  fearlessly  tell  the  people  what 
justice  and  honor  demand.  But  we  no  less  strongly  insist  that  it 
is  for  the  people  themselves  finally  to  decide  all  questions  of  public 
policy  and  to  have  their  decision  made  effective.  In  the  platform 
formulated  by  the  Progressive  party  we  have  set  forth  clearly  and 
specifically  our  faith  on  every  vital  point  at  issue  before  this  people. 

We  have  declared  our  position  on  the  trusts  and  on  the  tariff, 
on  the  machinery  for  securing  genuine  popular  government,  on  the 
method  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the  farmer,  of  the  business  man  and 
of  the  man  who  toils  with  his  hands,  hi  the  mine  or  on  the  railroad, 
in  the  factory  or  in  the  shop.  There  is  not  a  promise  we  have  made 
which  cannot  be  kept.  There  is  not  a  promise  we  have  made  that 
will  not  be  kept.  Our  platform  is  a  covenant  with  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  and  if  we  are  given  the  power  we  will  live  up 
to  that  covenant  in  letter  and  hi  spirit. 

We  know  that  there  are  hi  life  injustices  which  we  are  powerless 
to  remedy.  But  we  know  also  that  there  is  much  injustice  which 
can  be  remedied,  and  this  injustice  we  intend  to  remedy.  We 
know  that  the  long  path  leading  upward  toward  the  light  cannot  be 
traversed  at  once,  or  in  a  day,  or  hi  a  year.  But  there  are  certain 
steps  that  can  be  taken  at  once.  These  we  intend  to  take.  Then, 
;  +aken  these  first  steps,  we  shall  see  more  clearly  how  to 
walk  still  further  with  a  bolder  stride. 

We  do  not  intend  to  attempt  the  impossible.    But  there  is  much, 


396  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

very  much,  that  is  possible  in  the  way  of  righting  wrong  and  rem- 
edying injustice,  and  all  that  is  possible  we  intend  to  do.  We  intend 
to  strike  down  privilege,  to  equalize  opportunity,  to  wrest  justice 
from  the  hands  that  do  injustice,  to  hearten  and  strengthen  men 
and  women  for  the  hard  battle  of  We.  We  stand  shoulder  to 
shoulder  in  a  spirit  of  real  brotherhood.  We  recognize  no  differences 
of  class,  creed  or  birthplace.  We  recognize  no  sectionalism. 

Our  appeal  is  made  to  the  Easterner  no  less  than  to  the  Westerner. 
Our  appeal  is  made  to  the  Southerner  no  less  than  to  the  Northerner. 
We  appeal  to  the  men  who  wore  the  gray  just  as  we  appeal  to  the 
men  who  wore  the  blue.  We  appeal  to  the  sons  of  the  men  who  fol- 
lowed Lee  no  less  than  to  the  sons  of  the  men  who  followed  Grant; 
for  the  memory  of  the  great  deeds  of  both  is  now  part  of  the  com- 
mon heritage  of  honor  which  belongs  to  all  our  people  wherever 
they  dwell. 

We  firmly  believe  that  the  American  people  feel  hostility  to  no 
man  who  has  honestly  won  success.  We  firmly  believe  that  the 
American  people  ask  only  justice,  justice  each  for  himself  and 
justice  each  for  all  others.  They  are  against  wickedness  in  rich 
man  and  poor  man  alike.  They  are  against  lawless  and  murderous 
violence  exactly  as  they  are  against  the  sordid  materialism  which 
seeks  wealth  by  trickery  and  cheating,  whether  on  a  large  or  a 
small  scale. 

They  wish  to  deal  honestly  and  hi  good  faith  with  all  men.  They 
recognize  that  the  prime  national  need  is  for  honesty,  honesty  in 
public  life  and  in  private  life,  honesty  in  business  and  in  politics, 
honesty  in  the  broadest  and  deepest  significance  of  the  word.  We 
Progressives  are  trying  to  represent  what  we  know  to  be  the  highest 
ideals  and  the  deepest  and  most  intimate  convictions  of  the  plain 
men  and  women,  of  the  good  men  and  women,  who  work  for  the 
home  and  within  the  home. 

Our  people  work  hard  and  faithfully.  They  do  not  wish  to  shirk 
then-  work.  They  must  feel  pride  in  the  work  for  the  work's  sake. 
But  there  must  be  bread  for  the  work.  There  must  be  a  time  for 
play  when  the  men  and  women  are  young.  When  they  grow  old 
there  must  be  the  certainty  of  rest  under  conditions  free  from  the 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       397 

haunting  terror  of  utter  poverty.  We  believe  that  no  life  is  worth 
anything  unless  it  is  a  life  of  labor  and  effort  and  endeavor.  We 
believe  in  the  joy  that  comes  with  work,  for  he  who  labors  best  is 
really  happiest. 

We  must  shape  conditions  so  that  no  one  can  own  the  spirit  of 
the  man  who  loves  his  task  and  gives  the  best  there  is  in  him  to 
that  task,  and  it  matters  not  whether  this  man  reaps  and  sows  and 
wrests  his  livelihood  from  the  rugged  reluctance  of  the  soil  or 
whether  with  hand  or  brain  he  plays  his  part  in  the  tremendous 
industrial  activities  of  our  great  cities. 

We  are  striving  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  these  men,  and  to  meet 
them  in  such  fashion  that  all  alike  shall  feel  bound  together  in  the 
bond  of  a  common  brotherhood,  where  each  works  hard  for  himself 
and  for  those  dearest  to  him,  and  yet  feels  that  he  must  also  think 
of  his  brother's  rights  because  he  is  in  very  truth  that  brother's 
keeper.  Seven  months  ago  in  this  city,  almost  at  the  beginning 
of  the  present  campaign,  I  spoke  as  follows : 

"The  leader  for  the  time  being,  whoever  he  may  be,  is  but  an 
instrument,  to  be  used  until  broken  and  then  to  be  cast  aside;  and 
if  he  is  worth  his  salt  he  will  care  no  more  when  he  is  broken  than 
a  soldier  cares  when  he  is  sent  where  his  life  is  forfeit  in  order  that 
the  victory  may  be  won.  In  the  long  fight  for  righteousness  the 
watchword  for  all  of  us  is  spend  and  be  spent.  It  is  of  little  matter 
whether  any  one  man  fails  or  succeeds ;  but  the  cause  shall  not  fail, 
for  it  is  the  cause  of  mankind.  We,  here  in  America,  hold  in  our 
hands  the  hope  of  the  world,  the  fate  of  the  coming  years,  and  shame 
and  disgrace  will  be  ours  if  in  our  eyes  the  light  of  high  resolve  is 
dimmed,  if  we  trail  in  the  dust  the  golden  hopes  of  men." 

Friends,  what  I  said  then  I  say  now.  Surely  there  never  was  a 
greater  opportunity  than  ours.  Surely  there  never  was  a  fight 
better  worth  making  than  this.  I  believe  we  shall  win,  but  win  or 
lose  I  am  glad  beyond  measure  that  I  am  one  of  the  many  who  in 
this  fight  have  stood  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent,  pledged  to  fight 
while  life  lasts  the  great  fight  for  righteousness  and  for  brotherhood 
and  for  the  welfare  of  mankind. 


398  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

INAUGURATION  ADDRESS   OF  PRESIDENT  WOODROW  WILSON,* 
MARCH   4,    1913 

There  has  been  a  change  of  Government.  It  began  two  years 
ago,  when  the  House  of  Representatives  became  Democratic  by  a 
decisive  majority.  It  has  now  been  completed.  The  Senate 
about  to  assemble  will  also  be  Democratic.  The  offices  of  President 
and  Vice-President  have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  Democrats. 
What  does  the  change  mean?  That  is  the  question  that  is  upper- 
most in  our  minds  to-day.  That  is  the  question  I  am  going  to 
try  to  answer,  hi  order,  if  I  may,  to  interpret  the  occasion. 

It  means  much  more  than  the  mere  success  of  a  party.  The 
success  of  a  party  means  little  except  when  the  Nation  is  using  that 
party  for  a  large  and  definite  purpose.  No  one  can  mistake  the 
purpose  for  which  the  Nation  now  seeks  to  use  the  Democratic 
Party.  It  seeks  to  use  it  to  interpret  a  change  in  its  own  plans 
and  point  of  view.  Some  old  things  with  which  we  had  grown 
familiar,  and  which  had  begun  to  creep  into  the  very  habit  of  our 
thought  and  of  our  lives,  have  altered  their  aspect  as  we  have  lat- 
terly looked  critically  upon  them,  with  fresh,  awakened  eyes;  have 
dropped  their  disguises  and  shown  themselves  alien  and  sinister. 
Some  new  things,  as  we  look  frankly  upon  them,  willing  to  com- 
prehend their  real  character,  have  come  to  assume  the  aspect  of 
things  long  believed  in  and  familiar,  stuff  of  our  own  convictions. 
We  have  been  refreshed  by  a  new  insight  into  our  own  life. 

We  see  in  many  things  that  life  is  very  great.  It  is  incom- 
parably great  in  its  material  aspects,  in  its  body  of  wealth,  in  the 
diversity  and  sweep  of  its  energy,  in  the  industries  which  have 
been  conceived  and  built  up  by  the  genius  of  individual  men  and 
the  limitless  enterprise  of  groups  of  men.  It  is  great,  also,  very 
great,  in  its  moral  force.  Nowhere  else  in  the  world  have  noble 
men  and  women  exhibited  in  more  striking  forms  the  beauty  and 
the  energy  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  and  counsel  hi  their  efforts 
to  rectify  wrong,  alleviate  suffering,  and  set  the  weak  hi  the  way 
of  strength  and  hope.  We  have  built  up,  moreover,  a  great  system 

*  By  permission  of  the  author. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        399 

of  government,  which  has  stood  through  a  long  age  as  in  many 
respects  a  model  for  those  who  seek  to  set  liberty  upon  foundations 
that  will  endure  against  fortuitous  change,  against  storm  and  acci- 
dent. Our  life  contains  every  great  thing,  and  contains  it  in  rich 
abundance. 

But  the  evil  has  come  with  the  good,  and  much  fine  gold  has  been 
corroded.  With  riches  has  come  inexcusable  waste.  We  have 
squandered  a  great  part  of  what  we  might  have  used,  and  have 
not  stopped  to  conserve  the  exceeding  bounty  of  nature,  without 
which  our  genius  for  enterprise  would  have  been  worthless  and 
impotent,  scorning  to  be  careful,  shamefully  prodigal  as  well  as 
admirably  efficient.  We  have  been  proud  of  our  industrial  achieve- 
ments, but  we  have  not  hitherto  stopped  thoughtfully  enough  to 
count  the  human  cost,  the  cost  of  lives  snuffed  out,  of  energies 
overtaxed  and  broken,  the  fearful  physical  and  spiritual  cost  to 
the  men  and  women  and  children  upon  whom  the  dead  weight  and 
burden  of  it  all  has  fallen  pitilessly  the  years  through.  The  groans 
and  agony  of  it  all  had  not  yet  reached  our  ears,  the  solemn,  moving 
undertone  of  our  life,  coming  up  out  of  the  mines  and  factories  and 
out  of  every  home  where  the  struggle  had  its  intimate  and  familiar 
seat.  With  the  great  Government  went  many  deep  secret  things 
which  we  too  long  delayed  to  look  into  and  scrutinize  with  candid, 
fearless  eyes.  The  great  Government  we  loved  has  too  often  been 
made  use  of  for  private  and  selfish  purposes,  and  those  who  used  it 
had  forgotten  the  people. 

At  last  a  vision  has  been  vouchsafed  us  of  our  life  as  a  whole.  We 
see  the  bad  with  the  good,  the  debased  and  decadent  with  the  sound 
and  vital.  With  this  vision  we  approach  new  affairs.  Our  duty 
is  to  cleanse,  to  reconsider,  to  restore,  to  correct  the  evil  without 
impairing  the  good,  to  purify  and  humanize  every  process  of  our 
common  life  without  weakening  or  sentimentalizing  it.  There  has 
been  something  crude  and  heartless  and  unfeeling  in  our  haste  to 
succeed  and  be  great.  Our  thought  has  been  "Let  every  man  look 
out  for  himself,  let  every  generation  look  out  of  itself,"  while  we 
reared  giant  machinery  which  made  it  impossible  that  any  but 
those  who  stood  at  the  levers  of  control  should  have  a  chance  to 


400  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

look  out  for  themselves.  We  had  not  forgotten  our  morals.  We 
remembered  well  enough  that  we  had  set  up  a  policy  which  was 
meant  to  serve  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  most  powerful,  with  an 
eye  single  to  the  standards  of  justice  and  fair  play,  and  remembered 
it  with  pride.  But  we  were  very  heedless  and  in  a  hurry  to  be  great. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  sober  second  thought.  The  scales  of 
heedlessness  have  fallen  from  our  eyes.  We  have  made  up  our 
minds  to  square  every  process  of  our  National  life  again  with  the 
standards  we  so  proudly  set  up  at  the  beginning  and  have  always 
carried  at  our  hearts.  'Our  work  is  a  work  of  restoration. 

We  have  itemized  with  some  degree  of  particularity  the  things 
that  ought  to  be  altered,  and  here  are  some  of  the  chief  items:  A 
tariff  which  cuts  us  off  from  our  proper  part  hi  the  commerce  of 
the  world,  violates  the  just  principles  of  taxation,  and  makes  the 
Government  a  facile  instrument  in  the  hands  of  private  interests; 
a  banking  and  currency  system  based  upon  the  necessity  of  the 
Government  to  sell  its  bonds  fifty  years  ago  and  perfectly  adapted 
to  concentrating  cash  and  restricting  credits;  an  industrial  system 
which,  take  it  on  all  its  sides,  financial  as  well  as  administrative, 
holds  capital  in  leading  strings,  restricts  the  liberties  and  limits  the 
opportunities  of  labor,  and  exploits  without  renewing  or  conserving 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country;  a  body  of  agricultural  activities 
never  yet  given  the  efficiency  of  great  business  undertakings  or 
served  as  it  should  be  through  the  instrumentality  of  science  taken 
directly  to  the  farm,  or  afforded  the  facilities  of  credit  best  suited 
to  its  practical  needs;  water  courses  undeveloped,  waste  places 
unreclaimed,  forests  untended,  fast  disappearing  without  plan  or 
prospect  of  renewal,  unregarded  waste  heaps  at  every  mine.  We 
have  studied  as  perhaps  no  other  nation  has  the  most  effect  ivc 
means  of  production,  but  we  have  not  studied  cost  or  economy  as 
we  should  either  as  organizers  of  industry,  as  statesmen,  or  as  in- 
dividuals. 

Nor  have  we  studied  and  perfected  the  means  by  which  govern- 
ment may  be  put  at  the  service  of  humanity,  in  safeguarding  the 
health  of  the  Nation,  the  health  of  its  men  and  its  women  and  its 
children,  as  well  as  their  rights  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  This  is 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL       401 

no  sentimental  duty.  The  firm  basis  of  government  is  justice, 
not  pity.  These  are  matters  of  justice.  There  can  be  no  equality 
of  opportunity,  the  first  essential  of  justice  in  the  body  politic, 
if  men  and  women  and  children  be  not  shielded  in  their  lives,  their 
very  vitality,  from  the  consequences  of  great  industrial  and  social 
processes  which  they  cannot  alter,  control,  or  singly  cope  with. 
Society  must  see  to  it  that  it  does  not  itself  crush  or  weaken  or 
damage  its  own  constituent  parts.  The  first  duty  of  law  is  to  keep 
sound  the  society  it  serves.  Sanitary  laws,  pure  food  laws,  and 
laws  determining  conditions  of  labor  which  individuals  are  powerless 
to  determine  for  themselves  are  intimate  parts  of  the  very  business 
of  justice  and  legal  efficiency. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  we  ought  to  do,  and  not  leave  the 
others  undone,  the  old-fashioned,  never-to-be-neglected,  funda- 
mental safeguarding  of  property  and  of  individual  right.  This  is 
the  high  enterprise  of  the  new  day:  to  lift  everything  that  concerns 
our  life  as  a  Nation  to  the  light  that  shines  from  the  hearthfire  of 
every  man's  conscience  and  vision  of  the  right.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  we  should  do  this  as  partisans;  it  is  inconceivable  we  should 
do  it  in  ignorance  of  the  facts  as  they  are  or  in  blind  haste.  We 
shall  restore,  not  destroy.  We  shall  deal  with  our  economic  system 
as  it  is  and  as  it  may  be  modified,  not  as  it  might  be  if  we  had  a 
clean  sheet  of  paper  to  write  upon;  and  step  by  step  we  shall  make 
it  what  it  should  be,  hi  the  spirit  of  those  who  question  their  own 
wisdom  and  seek  counsel  and  knowledge,  not  shallow  self-satis- 
faction or  the  excitement  of  excursions  whither  they  cannot  tell. 
Justice,  and  only  justice,  shall  always  be  our  motto. 

And  yet  it  will  be  no  cool  process  of  mere  science.  The  Nation 
has  been  deeply  stirred,  stirred  by  a  solemn  passion,  stirred  by  the 
knowledge  of  wrong,  of  ideals  lost,  of  Government  too  often  de- 
bauched and  made  an  instrument  of  evil.  The  feelings  with  which 
we  face  this  new  age  of  right  and  opportunity  sweep  across  our 
heart-strings  like  some  air  out  of  God's  own  presence,  where  justice 
and  mercy  are  reconciled  and  the  judge  and  the  brother  are  one. 
We  know  our  task  to  be  no  mere  task  of  politics,  but  a  task  which 
shall  search  us  through  and  through,  whether  we  be  able  to  under- 


402  ORAL  COMPOSITION 

stand  our  time  and  the  need  of  our  people,  whether  we  be  indeed 
their  spokesmen  and  interpreters,  whether  we  have  the  pure  heart 
to  comprehend  and  the  rectified  will  to  choose  our  high  course  of 
action. 

This  is  not  a  day  of  triumph ;  it  is  a  day  of  dedication.  Here  mus- 
ter, not  the  forces  of  party,  but  the  forces  of  humanity.  Men's 
hearts  wait  upon  us;  men's  lives  hang  in  the  balance;  men's  hopes 
call  upon  us  to  say  what  we  will  do.  Who  shall  live  up  to  the  great 
trust?  Who  dares  fail  to  try?  I  summon  all  honest  men,  all 
patriotic,  all  forward-looking  men,  to  my  side.  God  helping  me, 
I  will  not  fail  them,  if  they  will  but  counsel  and  sustain  me! 


Speeches  excellent  for  study  of  plan  and  expression. 

BEVERIDGE,  ALBERT  J.  Speech  at  Progressive  National  Con- 
vention, 1912.  Frances  E.  Willard.  The  Meaning  of  the  Times. 

BRYAN,  WM.  J.  Signs  of  the  Times.  Speech  explaining  vote, 
at  Democratic  National  Convention,  1912.  W.  J.  Bryan:  A  Tale 
of  Two  Conventions. 

CARLYLE,  THOMAS.  The  Edinburgh  Address,  University  of 
Edinburgh,  1866.  The  World's  Best  Orations. 

CHOATE,  JOSEPH.    Rufus  Choate.    Best  American  Orations,  etc. 

DEPEW,  CHAUNCEY  M.  One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the 
Inauguration  of  President  Washington.  Orations  and  After-dinner 
Speeches  of  Chauncey  M.  Depew. 

ELIOT,  CHARLES  W.    The  Durable  Satisfactions  of  Life. 
GRADY,  HENRY  W.    The  New  South.    In  various  collections. 

INGALLS,  JOHN  J.  Speech  on  Benj.  H.  Hill,  U.  S.  Senate,  Jan.  25, 
1883.  World's  Best  Orations. 


TOPICS  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MATERIAL        403 

McKiNLEY,  WILLIAM.  At  Dedication  of  Grant  Monument. 
World's  Best  Orations.  Last  Address,  at  Buffalo  Exposition.  Best 
American  Orations. 

PHILLIPS,  WENDELL.  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison.  Speeches,  Letters 
and  Addresses. 

ROOT,  ELIHU.  Opening  Speech  at  Republican  National  Con- 
vention, 1912.  W.  J.  Bryan:  A  Tale  of  Two  Conventions.  Speech 
in  U.  S.  Senate,  Jan.  22,  1913,  on  Panama  Canal  Tolls.  Con- 
gressional Record. 


INDEX 


(  References  are  to  pages ) 


Ability  to  speak,  value  of,  6  ff. 

Accuracy,  value  of,  235  ff. 

ADAMS,  C.  F.,  221. 

ADAMS,  F.  W.,  49. 

ADDAMS,  JANE,  298,  361. 

ADDISON,  DeCoverley  Papers,  top- 
ics on,  323  ff. 

Address  in  interests  of  Goucher 
College,  385. 

Address  to  Teachers,  364. 

Address  of  Welcome,  359,  366. 

Addresses  suggested  for  study, 
355-400;  list  of,  402. 

Adjectives,  use  of,  89,  121. 

Adverbs,  use  of,  89,  121. 

Allusion,  93. 

Ambiguity,  83,  122. 

Analogy,  argument  from,  263,  288. 

Anecdotes,  30,  164,  166,  168,  173, 
180. 

Anglo-Saxon,  106  ff. 

Antithesis,  92. 

Application,  in  conclusion,  56;  in 
paragraph  development,  66. 

Argumentation,  nature,  257 ;  kinds, 
267;  occasions  for,  257  ff.;  state- 
ment of  question,  269  ff.,  271, 
274;  evidence,  261  ff.;  tests 
of  evidence,  263  ff.;  flaws  in 
reasoning,  265;  mistakes  of 
pupils,  279  ff.;  briefs,  269  ff., 
277,  282,  285;  direct  proof,  274; 
refutation,  288  ff.,  295;  intro- 
duction, 270  ff . ;  conclusion,  279, 
285,  287,  293,  295,  297  ff.;  de- 
bating, 293  ff.;  specimens  of 
argument,  289  ff.,  301,  304,  375, 
385;  topics  for,  81,  268,  275  ff., 
281  ff.,  300,  312,  313,  325,  327, 
333,  339  ff.,  343,  352. 

Articulation.    See  enunciation. 


Arrangement,   of  points,   39,   60, 

248,  295;  sentences,  62,  83,  84, 

91,  123;  details,  175,  189,  204, 

^08. 
ASQUITH,    Premier,     Tribute     to 

Whitelaw  Reid,  250. 
Audience,  nature  of,  27;  relation 

to  subject,  24,  28;  inspiration 

by,  13,  125;  control  of,  12,  14, 

15,  17,  126. 
Authority,  for  pronunciation,  157; 

for  use  of  words,  117,  119;  as 

evidence,  262,  265. 
Auxiliary  verbs,  86  ff.;  shall  and 

will,  87  ff.;  would,  should,  87; 

have,  90;  can,  121. 
AYCOCK,  Governor,  231. 

Balanced  sentence,  91. 

Balkan  Conference,  Welcome  to, 
361. 

BANKHEAD,  Congressman,  272. 

Barbarisms,  118. 

Bases  of  classification,  35,  37. 

Bearing,  14,  126. 

BEESELEY,  L.,  217. 

Beginning,  242.  See  setting,  in- 
troduction. 

BENTON,  G.  P.,  217. 

BEVERIDGE,  A.  J.,  Trusts,  232. 

Bible  Tercentenary,  Addresses, 
356  ff. 

Biography,  165;  topics  for,  190  ff., 
248  ff.,  328,  329,  335,  338  ff. 

ELAINE,  J.  G.,  71. 

Body,  use  of,  14  ff.,  125  ff. 

Books,  use  of,  33;  value  of,  262, 
265. 

Breathing,  135, 150;  exercises,  136. 

Brief,  preparation  of,  269  ff.; 
examples,  277,  282,  285. 


405 


406 


INDEX 


BRINCKERHOFF.  ELBERT,  356. 
BROWN,  Mrs.  J.  M.,  183. 
BRYAN,    W.    J.,    Introduction    to 

speech,  47;  introduction  of,  355, 

356;  Mexican  travel,  207. 
BRYCE,  JAMES,  74. 
BURKE,  EDMUND,  description  of, 

211;    extracts   from,    72,    246; 

topics  on,  326. 
BURNS,  ROBERT,  topics  on,  328. 

CABOT,  C.  M.,  Speech  at  Directors' 
Meeting,  364. 

CARLYLE,  topics  on,  328. 

CARREL,  Dr.  ALEXIS,  welcome  to, 
359;  response  of,  360. 

Case,  88. 

Cause  and  effect,  as  method,  66, 
71,  73,  82;  in  plot,  174,  175. 

Celtic,  106. 

Central  idea,  64,  177,  189,  238. 
See  theme. 

Change  in  educational  emphasis, 
3ff. 

Character  portrayal,  method,  175, 
184,  193,  210;  illustrations, 
186  ff . ;  topics,  185  ff . 

Child  Labor  Law,  Operation  of, 
366. 

Choice  of  subject,  24  ff.,  27  ff .,  173, 
183,  200,  238,  260,  269,  270, 
299. 

CLARK,  CHAMP,  188. 

Classification,  importance  of,  34: 
bases  of  for  outline,  35,  37;  of 
figures,  92;  of  narrative,  165;  of 
description,  198;  of  exposition, 
225;  of  argument,  267;  of  forms 
of  speech,  163. 

Clauses,  use  of  in  sentences,  65, 83, 
84. 

Clearness,  35,  60,  64;  in  subject, 
43,  269:  in  introduction,  43,  45. 
in  conclusion,  55,  56;  in  words, 
122;  in  sentences,  83,  92;  in 
paragraphs,  64;  in  narration, 
164.  171,  174,  175,  184;  in  ex- 
position, 227;  in  argument,  269, 
311;  in  reasoning,  265,  280,  288; 
in  enunciation,  148  ff.,  157,  158; 
by  figures,  92. 


Climax,  for  emphasis,  66,  248, 
295;  in  narrative,  175,  177;  in 
sentences,  84. 

Clive  and  Hastings,  topics  on,  340. 

Closing  address  of  political  cam- 
paign, ROOSEVELT,  391. 

Coherence,  nature,  244;  how  ob- 
tained in  whole  speech,  39,  245, 
295;  in  paragraphs,  65,  67;  in 
sentences,  83;  in  exposition, 
244  ff.;  in  argument,  295.  See 
transition. 

Colloquialism,  119. 

Commemorations,  25. 

Commerce,  383. 

Comparison  and  contrast,  as 
method  of  outline  classification, 
35;  in  paragraph  development, 
67,  68,  72,  79;  for  clearness, 
92;  of  adjectives,  89. 

Comprehensiveness,  35,  36,  240, 
274. 

Conciliation  with  America,  topics 
on,  326. 

Conciseness,  84,  252. 

Conclusion,  54  ff.;  reasons  for, 
54  ff.;  kinds  of,  55;  examples  of, 
67  ff.,  297  ff.,  362  ff.;  in  exposi- 
tion, 242;  in  argument,  293,  295, 
297. 

Concord  in  sentences,  83,  84. 

Conditions  of  good  speaking,  21  ff. 

Conjunctions,  use  of,  65,  83. 

Consequences  to  industry  of  existing 
conflict,  370. 

Consonants,  how  formed,  149  ff.; 
elision  of,  104,  158;  exercises, 
151  ff.,  158  ff. 

Conversation,  lost  art,  16;  value  in 
narrative,  185;  examples,  186; 
topics  for  practice,  193,  332, 
346  ff.,  351. 

COOKE,  R.  J.,  297. 

Criticism,  253  ff. 

CUMMINGS,  A.  J.,  180,  211,  221. 

Debate,  occasions,  257  ff.;  ques- 
tion, 269,  271,  274;  planning  of, 
269  ff.;  conduct  of,  294  ff.;  topics 
for.  See  topics  for  argumenta- 
tion. 


INDEX 


407 


DeCoverley  papers,  topics  on,  323  ff. 

Definition,  words,  113;  method  of 
paragraph,  66,  67;  examples  of 
68,  231  ff.;  kind  of  exposition, 
225;  in  argument,  271;  topics 
for,  78,  230. 

DENNISON,  ELSA,  57. 

Derivation  of  words,  104,  108  ff.; 
exercises,  113  ff. 

Description,  198  ff.;  purpose,  45, 
193,  198,  200,  215;  nature,  198, 
224;  choice  of  subject,  200; 
method,  200  ff.;  point  of  view, 

200,  201;  fundamental  image, 

201,  202,  204,  210;  details,  198, 
201,    202,    206,    209,    210;    ar- 
rangement, 206 ;  wording,  214  ff .  ; 
general  impression,  201,  216;  of 
building,  202,  204;  of  landscape, 
206  ff.;  of  object,  199,  205;  of 
person,  199,  210  ff.,  212  ff.;  of 
animal,  199,  214;  sounds,  color, 
etc.,  216  ff . ;  scene  of  action,  220, 
222;    examples,    199,    202    ff., 
206  ff.,  210  ff.,  216  ff.,  220  f.; 
topics,  199,  204  ff.,  208,  212  ff., 
216,  222,  223,  323,   332,  335, 
348,  350. 

Details,  selection  of,  175, 177, 188, 
206,  209,  251;  arrangement  of, 
175,  189,  202,  204,  210;  in  de- 
scription, 198,  201,  202,  206, 
208,  209,  210;  in  narration,  177, 
184,  188;  paragraph  develop- 
ment by,  66,  76. 

DICKENS,  extract  from,  203;  topics 
on,  330. 

Diction,  117  ff.;  purity,  118  ff.; 
propriety,  120  ff. ;  precision,  122; 
examples,  68,  74,  75,  216  ff., 
378  ff.,  400  ff.;  exercises,  119, 
121,  122. 

DOWLING,  VICTOR,  356. 

Effectiveness  of  subject,  24  ff., 
27  ff.,  170,  173,  200;  of  attitude, 
126  ff.,  128;  of  presentation,  35, 
40,  55,  295;  of  words,  92,  214 
ff. 

ELIOT,  C.  W.,  Uses  of  Education  for 
Business,  378. 


ELIOT,  GEORGE,  topics  on  Silas 
Marner,  332. 

Emotions,  appeal  to,  8,  12,  164, 
170,  192  ff.,  295. 

Emphasis,  reasons  for,  65;  how  to 
obtain,  140;  in  whole  speech,  40, 
175,  190,  248;  in  paragraph,  65, 
67;  in  sentence,  84;  in  words, 
143;  by  facial  changes,  128;  by 
bearing,  127;  by  gesture,  131; 
by  voice,  140  ff. 

Ending,  175,  242.     See  conclusion. 

Enunciation,  148  ff.;  exercises, 
151  ff. 

Epigram,  93. 

Euphony,  90,  115. 

EVERETT,  EDWARD,  68. 

Evidence,  261  ff . ;  testing  of,  263  ff ., 

Examples,  in  paragraph  develop- 
ment, 66,  74,  75,  80;  in  argu- 
ment, 261.  See  illustrative  ma- 
terial. 

Explanation  (see  exposition),  45, 
271;  method  in  paragraph,  66, 
78. 

Exposition,  224  ff.;  purpose,  225, 
272;  nature,  224;  kinds,  225; 
outlines  for,  40,  41,  243;  com- 
pared with  other  forms,  207,  224, 
257,  259;  clearness  in,  227;  ac- 
curacy in,  235  ff.;  unity  in,  238; 
coherence  in,  244  ff.;  emphasis 
in,  248;  conciseness  in,  252;  in 
argument,  272,  294;  examples, 
67  ff.,  207,  227  ff.,  231  ff.,  249  ff., 
259,  272,  355-375,  378,  391^02; 
topics  for,  76,  78  ff.,  230,  234, 
236,  237  f.,  239,  248  ff.,  252  ff., 
317-322,  323-355. 

Expression,  61,  62;  necessity  for, 
7,  61;  manner  of,  6f.,  163; 
through  body,  14  ff.,  125  ff.; 
face,  128;  eye,  15;  gestures, 
129  ff . ;  voice,  135  ff . 

Extemporaneous  speech,  value  of, 
61. 

Eyes,  power  of,  14,  15,  17,  126; 
use  of,  126. 

Facial  expression,  128. 
FARLEY,  Cardinal,  48. 


408 


INDEX 


Figures  of  speech,  92  ff.;  use,  92; 

kinds,  92  ff . ;  examples,  99  ff . 
Force,  138, 141.     See  emphasis. 
Foreign  words,  112,  116,  119. 
Form,  of  discourse,  163,  198,  207, 

224,  257 ;  of  outline  (see  outline) ; 

of  brief  (see  brief). 
Formation  of  sounds,  149  ff . 
Formation   of   words,    110,    112; 

method,  114;  exercises,  113, 114. 
French  influence  on  language,  110. 
Fundamental  image,  201,  202, 

204,  210. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  address  on, 

382. 

GATNOR,  W.  J.,  290,  355. 

General  terms,  122. 

Gesture,  129  ff.;  use  of,  129  ff.; 

nature  of,  130  ff.;  meaning  of, 

130  ff.;  exercises,  132  ff. 
Gettysburg,  description  of  army, 

220;  introductions  to  speeches 

on,  51. 

Golden  Treasury,  topics  on,  344. 
GRAGO,  Congressman,  293. 
Greek,  derivations  from  112  ff. 
GREELEY,  HORACE,  address  by,382. 
GREER.  Bishop,  address  by,  357. 
GREY,  Earl,  address  by,  361. 

HADLEY,  A.  T.,  53. 

HARDY,  THOMAS,  address  by,  362. 

HARRISON,  FAIRFAX,  address  by, 
370. 

HAWTHORNE,  NATHANIEL,  172, 
202. 

HEDGES,  JOB,  181,  227,  231. 

HIGGINSON,  T.  W.,  211. 

HILL,  J.  J.,  70. 

History,  Nature  of,  166,  169;  top- 
ics from,  78,  177,  189,  230,  326, 
331,  338,  340,  343,  345,  347. 

History  of  language,  101  ff.,  113. 

History  of  question,  44,  270,  273. 

HOMER,  The  Odyssey,  topics  on, 
334. 

HOWELLS,  W.  D.,  207, 218. 

Hyperbole,  93. 

HUGHES,  CHARLES  E.,  Reply  to 
Committee,  375. 


Idylh  of  the  King,  topics  on,  354. 

Illustrative  material,  addressee, 
249  f.,  355  ff.;  description,  199, 
202  ff.,  206  ff.,  210  ff.,  216  ff., 
220 f.;  narration,  70, 178 ff.,  182, 
186  ff.;  exposition,  67  ff.,  207, 
227  ff.,  231  ff.,  249  ff.,  259,  272, 
355-375,  378,  391-400;  argu- 
ment, 289  ff.,  301,  304,  375,  385; 
outlines,  40,  41,  77,  194  ff.,  243; 
briefs,  277,  282,  285;  introduc- 
tion, 46  ff.,  172  ff.,  272  ff .,  362  ff . ; 
conclusion,  57  ff.,  297  ff.,  362  ff . ; 
paragraphs,  67  ff.,  245,  289  ff.; 
sentences,  91, 97, 247 ;  words,  104, 
106,  110,  116.  118  ff.;  gesture, 
127,  133;  modulation,  138  ff. 

Impression,  importance  of,  55,  66; 
methods  of  making,  14,  40,  55, 
215;  in  description,  201, 210, 215; 
in  argument,  295;  in  narration, 
184. 

Impropriety  of  diction,  121. 

Inaugural  address  of  President 
Wilson,  398. 

Incident,  174,  176  ff.,  180  f.,  184, 
186. 

Individuality,  209,  213.  214. 

Influence  of  speech,  8  ff.,  11  ff. 

Initial  incident,  174. 

Interest,  of  subject,  27  ff.;  of 
title,  29;  in  speaking,  10,  17;  in 
introduction,  44,  45;  in  narra- 
tion 165,  177,  184,  191  ff.; 
methods  of  arousing,  39,  44,  45, 
184, 191  ff.,  193, 198,  200,  270. 

Interrogation,  93. 

Introduction,  43  ff.;  reasons  for, 
43  ff.;  kinds  of,  44  ff.;  in  de- 
scription, 200;  in  narration,  171; 
in  exposition,  242;  in  argument, 
270  ff . ;  examples  of,  46  ff .,  172  ff ., 
272  ff.,  362  ff. ;  exercises,  45, 172, 
242.  272. 

Introduction  of  speakers,  355,  356. 

Irony,  92. 

IRVING,  topics  for  Sketch-book,  335. 

Ivanhoe,  topics  for,  346. 

JONES,  Congressman,  291. 
Julius  Caesar,  topics  on,  349. 


INDEX 


409 


KING,  T.  S.,  57. 
KULP,  E.  J.,  289. 

LANGLEY,  Congressman,  298. 

Language,  history  of,  101  S.,  113; 
use  of,  6  ff.;  necessity  for  pre- 
serving, 115  ff.;  study  of,  3  ff. 

Latin  derivatives,  106,  108,  109, 
112,  113, 114. 

LEWIS,  Congressman,  298. 

Library,  use  of,  33. 

LINCOLN,  extract  from,  59;  topics 
on,  337. 

Link  paragraphs,  75,  245. 

Lips,  150. 

MACAULAY,    extract    from,    143; 

topics  on,  340  ff . 
Macbeth,  topics  on,  351. 
McCoRMicK,  L.,  address  by,  364. 
MCKNIGHT,  description  of  Burke, 

211. 
Magnetism,  nature  of,  13;  power 

of;  14;  sources  of,  13, 14, 17. 
Main  points  in  outline,  36  ff.,  239, 

240;  in  brief,  274,  295. 
Mannerisms,  126, 130, 132. 
Material,  sources  of,  31  ff.,  261  ff.; 

value  of,  263  ff.;  use  of,  33  ff., 

269,  274,  280;  arrangement  of 

(see  outlines,  briefs),  33  ff. 
Merchant  of   Venice,    topics    on, 

350. 

MERIMEE,  PROSPER,  220. 
Metaphor,  92. 
Metonymy,  93. 
Middle  English,  111. 
MILTON,  topics  on  Minor  Poems, 

341. 

Misformed  words,  118. 
MITCHEL,  J.  P.,  address  by,  359. 
MITCHELL,  JOHN,  73. 
Mode,  86. 

Modulation  of  voice,  138  ff. 
MONDELL,  Congressman,  274. 
MUNSEY,  FRANK,  59. 

Narration,  163  ff.;  nature,  164; 
purpose,  45,  56,  168  flf.;  kinds, 
165  fif.;  setting,  171  ff.,  177; 


theme,  173  ff.;  plot,  174  ff.;  ini- 
tial incident,  174;  incidents,  176, 
184,  188;  rising  action,  175; 
turning  point,  175;  falling  ac- 
tion, 175;  ending,  175;  charac- 
ters, 184  ff.;  technique,  188  ff.; 
conversation,  185,  193;  interest, 
165,  175,  177,  184,  191  ff.; 
examples,  70, 178 ff.,  182, 186 ff.; 
exercises,  167,  172,  175  ff.,  177 
180,  181,  184,  185  ff.,  189  ff., 
193  ff.  See  topics,  narrative. 

NEILL,  C.  P.,  74. 

Narrowing  of  subject,  29  ff.,  270, 
319. 

Naturalness,  18;  of  bearing,  126;  of 
speech,  138,  141,  142,  144,  146; 
of  style,  61,  214;  of  gesture,  129, 
131. 

Nervousness,  cure  for,  19,  60,  129, 
135. 

Newly  coined  words,  118. 

NICHOLSON,  M.,  204. 

Norman-French,  110. 

Norse,  108. 

Note-taking,  method,  33  ff . 

Observation,  32. 

Obsolete  words,  118. 

Odyssey,  topics  on,  334. 

Old  French,  109. 

Opinion,  expression  of,  252  ff . 

Oratory,  vogue  of,  316;  power  of, 
8  ff . ;  present  fashion,  92. 

Order,  in  mental  processes,  35, 
163;  in  arrangement  of  points, 
39, 189,  248,  295;  in  paragraphs, 
65;  in  sentences,  83,  84,  91. 

Oregon  Trail,  topics  on,  345. 

Organs  of  speech,  149  ff . 

Outlines,  34  ff . ;  use  of,  34  ff . ;  bases 
for,  35;  form,  36  (see  examples 
of);  main  points,  36  ff.,  239  ff.; 
sub-points,  39,  241;  for  narra- 
tive, 193  ff.;  for  exposition,  40, 
41,  77,  243;  for  argument  (see 
brief);  examples  of,  40,  41,  77, 
243,494  ff.;  exercises  for,  36  ff., 
43,11193,  236  ff.,  239  ff .,  242,  253, 
255,  317,  318,  319  ff.  (see  brief). 

OWEN,  Senator,  229, 299. 


410 


INDEX 


Palate,  149. 

PALGRAVE,  topics  on  Golden  Treas- 
ury,^. 

Paragraphs,  62  ff.;  history  of,  63; 
use  of,  62,  64;  kinds,  66,  67,  75, 
245;  unity,  64,  67;  coherence, 
65,  67;  emphasis,  65,  67;  plan 
for,  77;  topic  sentence,  64;  in- 
troductory, 44,  75;  concluding, 
55,  75;  link,  75,  245;  methods, 
66,76,  78  ff.;  examples,  67  ff., 
245,  289  ff.;  topics,  76,  78  ff.; 
exercises,  67,  76,  78  ff. 

Parallel  structure,  84. 

PARKMAN,  218;  Oregon  Trail,  top- 
ics on,  345. 

Participial  phrases,  use  of,  83. 

Pause,  147. 

Periodic  sentence,  91. 

Personality  of  speaker,  12  ff .,  15. 

Personification,  92. 

Personsfrequentlyusingspeech,  7ff. 

Pitch,  143  ff . 

Place  of  speaking,  125. 

Planning,  necessity  for,  34  ff.,  123; 
method,  34  ff. ;  narration,  193  ff. ; 
description,  200  ff.;  exposition, 
239  ff.;  argument,  269  ff.  See 
outlines,  briefs. 

Plays.     See  topics. 

Plot  (see  narrative),  174  ff. 

Point  of  view,  64,  83,  189,  200, 
201,  202. 

Political  speech  at  mass  meeting, 
example,  391. 

Position,  of  body,  125  ff.;  of  hand, 
129  ff. 

Power  of  speech,  8  ff.,  11  ff. 

Precision,  122. 

Prefixes,  105, 113. 

Preparation,  23  ff. 

Prepositions,  use  of,  89  f . 

Present  use,  of  words,  118,  119;  in 
style,  92. 

Probability,  in  narration,  192;  in 
argument,  264. 

Pronouns,  use  of,  65,  88;  ambigu- 
ity, 83 ;  case  of ,  88. 

Pronunciation,  104,  156  ff.;  how  to 
learn  it,  157;  common  mistakes, 
157  ff.;  exercises,  157-160. 


Proof,  nature  of,  261  ff.;  methods 
of,  261  ff.,  274;  paragraph  de- 
velopment by,  66,  69,  71,  81. 

Proportion,  whole  talk,  188,  248; 
paragraph,  65. 

Proposition,  269,  271,  274,  294. 

Propriety  of  diction,  120. 

Provincialisms,  119. 

Purity  of  diction,  118. 

Purpose  of  speech,  6  ff . ;  of  specific 
talks,  24;  of  narration,  56,  168; 
of  description,  45,  193,  198,  200, 
215;  of  exposition,  225;  of  argu- 
ment, 257. 

Quality  of  voice,  138  ff. 
Question.     See  proposition. 

Rate  of  speech,  146  ff. 

Reading,  use  of  for  information, 
32,  262;  objections  to  as  ex- 
pression, 17  ff. 

Reasoning,  262,  265,  280,  288,  293. 

Reasons  for  speech,  3  ff. 

Rebuttal,  295. 

REDFIELD,  W.  C.,  extracts  from 
speeches,  49,  58,  304. 

Redundancy,  84. 

REED,  T.  B.,  57. 

REID,  WHITELAW,  tributes  to. 
249  ff. 

Refutation,  288  ff .,  295. 

Repetition,  55,  66,  90,  91,  114, 
252. 

Reply  to  nomination,  375. 

Response  to  address  of  welcome, 
360. 

Response  to  yift,  362. 

ROOSEVELT,  THEODORE,  46,  391. 

ROOT,  ELIHU,  69,  76,  403. 

Roots  and  stems,  112  ff. 

RUSKIN,  68. 

SCOTT,  Ivanhoe,  topics  on,  346. 

SEELYE,  L.  C.,  69. 

Sentences,  82  ff . ;  kinds,  91 ;  gram- 
matical, 91;  rhetorical,  91; 
theme,  45;  topic,  64;  introduc- 
tory (see  introduction) ;  conclud- 
ing, 64  (see  conclusion) ;  transi- 
tional, 247;  rules  for,  83  ff.; 


INDEX 


411 


unity,  83;  coherence,  83;  em- 
phasis, 84;  clearness,  83;  con- 
cord, 84;  harmony,  90;  variety, 
91;  examples  of,  91,  97,  247; 
inorrect,  85,  86,  88  ff.,  94  ff.; 
extrcises,  93,  94,  97,  121,  122. 

Sequence  of  tenses,  85. 

Setting,  171  ff. 

SHAKSPERE,  topics  on,  348;  Mer- 
chant of  Venice,  350  ff.;  Julius 
Ccssar,  349;  Macbeth,  351  ff. 

Simile,  92. 

Silas  Marner,  topics  on,  332. 

Simplicity,  92,  124,  170. 

Sketch-Book,  IRVING,  topics  on, 
335. 

Slang,  119. 

Smoothness,  163;  of  sound,  90;  in 
sentences,  90;  of  transition,  65, 
245,  247;  in  introduction,  44,  45; 
in  conclusion,  55,  56. 

Solecisms,  120. 

Speech,  reasons  for,  3  ff.,  17  ff . ;  oc- 
casions for,  6  ff . ;  power  of,  8  ff ., 
1  Iff.;  organs  of,  149. 

Speech  better  than  reading,  17  ff. 

Stage  fright,  prevention  of,  19,  60, 
135. 

Statement  of  question,  269,  271, 
294. 

Statement  of  subject,  29,  43,  269, 
271. 

Stems,  112  ff. 

STEVENSON,  R.  L.,  218;  topics  on, 
352  ff. 

STIMSON,  H.  L.,  extracts  from 
speech,  47,  60. 

Style,  61,  83,  92,  123. 

Subject,  conditions  governing 
choice  of,  24  ff.;  suitability  of, 
27,  28,  30;  narrowing  of,  29  ff., 
238,  270,  319;  unity  of,  238; 
statement  of,  29,  43,  269,  271, 
294. 

Sub-points  in  outline,  39,  241;  in 
brief,  279. 

Suffixes,  105,  114. 

Summaries,  assignments  for,  176, 
252;  use  of,  55,  293,  295. 

Suspense,  191. 

Synonyms,  114,  122. 


TAFT,  W.  H.,  extracts  from 
speeches,  51,  54,  301. 

Tale  of  Two  Cities,  topics  on,  331. 

TALMAGE,  T.  DEW.,  204,  207,  219. 

Tautology,  84. 

TAYLOR,  Senator,  71. 

Technical  subjects,  28. 

Technical  terms,  119. 

TENNYSON,  Idylls  of  the  King,  top- 
ics on,  354. 

Tenses,  use  of,  85. 

Theme,  45, 173, 175. 

Theme  sentence,  45,  242. 

Theory,  66,  237,  263,  311  ff. 

THOMAS,  M.  CAREY,  address  by. 
385. 

Teeth,  use  of,  150. 

Titanic  disaster,  account  of,  70, 182. 

Title,  29. 

Tongue,  use  of,  150. 

Topic  sentence,  64. 

Topics,  argumentative,  81,  268, 
275  ff.,  281  ff.,  300,  312,  325, 
327,  333,  339  ff.,  343,  352;  bio- 
graphical, 190  ff.,  248  ff.,  328, 
329,  335,  338  ff.;  book  reviews, 
253,  329,  341,  346;  civic  topics, 
78,  79, 230, 237  ff .,  281  ff .,  300  ff ., 
319,  320,  322;  descriptive,  199, 
205,  208,  212  ff.,  216,  222  223, 
323,  332,  335,  348,  350;  exposi- 
tory, 76,  78  ff.,  230,  234,  236, 
237,  238,  239,  248  ff.,  252  ff., 
317-322,  323-355;  historical, 
78  ff.,  177,  189,  230,  326,  331, 
338,  340,  343,  345,  347;  indus- 
trial, 76,  82,  240,  318;  local,  76, 
239,  252,  254,  256,  318;  narra- 
tive, 176  ff.,  181, 184, 186, 189  ff., 
197,  323,  332,  343,  346  ff., 
350  ff.,  352,  353,  354;  para- 
graph, 76,  78  ff.;  plays,  79,  176, 
189,  222,  254  (see  Shakspere}', 
scientific,  76,  78  ff.,  82  ff.,  214, 
230  ff.,  248,  312;  social,  80  ff., 
236  ff.,  255  ff.,  319;  for  senior 
orations,  319;  for  special  occa- 
sions, 317,  318;  on  college  en- 
trance literature,  322  ff. 

Transition,  words,  65;  sentences, 
247;  paragraphs,  245. 


412 


INDEX 


Travels  with  a  Donkey,  topics  on, 

353. 

Treasure  Island,  topics  on,  352. 
Trusts,  232. 
Turning  point,  175. 

Unity,  of  subject,  238;  of  treat- 
ment, 171,  189,  239;  of  para- 
graph, 64,  67;  of  sentence,  83. 
(See  central  idea.) 

Uses  of  Education  for  Business. 
378. 

VAN  DYKE,  HENRY,  75,  219,  383. 

Variety,  in  sentences,  91;  in  tone, 
138  ff. 

Verbosity,  84. 

Verbs,  agreement  with  subject,  84; 
forms,  85;  misuse  of,  120;  auxil- 
iaries, 86  ff.,  121;  tenses,  85; 
mode,  86. 

Vividness,  in  narration,  164,  193; 
in  description,  198,  214;  in 
words,  92, 214, 295. 


Vocabulary,  112,  114,  117;  exer- 
cises, 113  f.,  115,  216. 

Voice,  power  of,  15;  use  of,  135  ff.; 
modulation,  138  ff.;  quality, 
138  ff.;  tone,  138  ff.;  pitch, 
143  ff. 

Vowels,  how  formed,  150;  elision 
of,  104,  157,  158,  159;  exercises. 
151  ff.,  157  ff. 

WASHINGTON,  BOOKER  T.,  46. 

Webster,  Daniel,  description  of, 
211 ;  extract  from,  246. 

WHARTON,  EDITH,  218. 

WHITE,  S.  E.,  212. 

WILLIAMS,  TALCOTT,  250. 

WILSON,  WOODROW,  48,  59,  72; 
Inaugural,  398. 

Words,  101  ff.;  history  of,  101  ff.; 
building  of,  114;  definition  of, 
113  ff.,  120  ff.;  use  of,  120,  121, 
122,  123,  214,  216;  pronuncia- 
tion of,  156  ff.;  enunciation  o.\ 
148  f.;  exercises,  113,  114,  115, 
119,  121,  122, 151, 153  ff.,  216. 


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Addison's  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley.     (Gray.) 

Andersen's  Danish  Fairy  Tales  and  Legends.     (Brooks.) 

Arabian  Nights.     (Johnson.) 

Arnold's  Sohrab  and  Rustum,  and  other  Poems.     (Castleman.) 

Austen's  Pride  and  Prejudice.     (Heermans.) 

Austen's  Sense  and  Sensibility.     (Miller.) 

Bacon's  Essays.     (Clarke.) 

Baker's  Out  of  the  Northland.     (E.  K.  Baker.) 

Blackmore's  Lorna  Doone.     (Barbour.) 

Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson.     Abridged.     (Watson.) 

Mrs.  Browning's  Poems.     Selections.     (Hersey.) 

Browning's  Shorter  Poems.     (F.  T.  Baker.) 

Bryant's  Thanatopsis,  Sella,  and  other  Poems.     (Castleman.) 

Bulwer  Lytton's  Last  Days  of  Pompeii.     (Castleman.) 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress.     (Moffatt.) 

Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America.     (Newsom.) 

Burns's  Poems.     (Buck.) 

Byron's  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage.     (George.) 

Byron's  Shorter  Poems.     (Bowles.) 

*Carlyle's  Essay  on  Burns.     (Gore.) 

Carlyle's  Heroes  and  Hero  Worship.     (Marble.) 

Carroll's  Alice  in  Wonderland.     (McMurry.) 


THE      POCKET     CLASSICS      SERIES 

Chaucer's  Prologue,  The  Knight's  Tale,  and  The  Nun's  Priest's  Tale.  (Ingraham.) 

Church's  The  Story  of  the  Iliad. 

Church's  The  Story  of  the  Odyssey. 

'Coleridge's  The  Ancient  Mariner,  Kubla  Khan,  and  Christabel.     (Huntington.) 

Cooper's  Last  of  the  Mohicans.     (Wickea.) 

Cooper's  The  Deerslayer. 

Cooper's  The  Spy.     (Thurber.) 

Dana's  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast.     (Keyes.) 

Defoe's  Robinson  Crusoe.     Part  I.     (Gaston.) 

Defoe's  The  Life  and  Adventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe.     Abridged.     (Johnson.) 

De  Quincey's  Confessions  of  an  English  Opium-Eater.     (Realty.) 

De  Quincey's  Essays.    Joan  of  Arc,  The  English  Mail  Coach,  and  The  Spanish 

Military  Nun.     (Newman.) 

Dickens's  Christmas  Carol.     (Sawin  and  Thomas.) 
*Dickens's  David  Copperfield.     2  volumes.     (Fairley.) 
*Dickens's  Tale  of  Two  Cities.     (Buehler  and  Mason.) 
Dryden's  Palamon  and  Arcite.     (Chubb.) 
Early  American  Orations,  1760-1824.     (Heller.) 
Jonathan  Edwards's  Sermons.     Selections.     (Gardiner.) 
*Eliot's  Silas  Marner.     (Gulick.) 
Eliot's  Mill  on  the  Floss.     (Auaherman.) 
Emerson's  Earlier  Poems.     (Gallagher.) 
Emerson's  Essays.     (Holmes.) 
Emerson's  Representative  Men.     (Buck.) 
English  Narrative  Poems.     (Fuess  and  Sanborn.) 
Epoch-Making  Papers  in  United  States  History.     (Brown.) 
'Franklin's  Autobiography. 
*Mrs.  GaskelPs  Cranford.     (Sampson.) 

'Goldsmith's  The  Deserted  Village,  and  other  Poems.     (Whiteford.) 
'Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakeneld.     (Boynton.) 
*Gray's  Elegy  in  a   Country  Church-yard,  and   Cowper's  John  Gilpin's  Ride- 

(Castleman.) 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales.     (Fassett.) 
Hale's  The  Man  without  a  Country.     (Tucker.) 
Hawthorne's  Grandfather's  Chair.     (Kingsley.) 
*Hawthorne's  House  of  the  Seven  Gables.     (Furst.) 
Hawthorne's  Mosses  from  an  Old  Manse.     (Burbank.) 
Hawthorne's  Tanglewood  Tales.     (Begga.) 
Hawthorne's  Twice-Told  Tales.     (Gaston.) 
Hawthorne's  Wonder-Book.     (Wolfe.) 
Holmes's  Poems.     Selections.     (Castleman.) 
Holmes's  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table.     (Rounds.) 
Homer's  Iliad.     Lang,  Leaf  and  Myers  Trans. 
*Homer's  Iliad.     Pope  Trans.     Complete.     (Rhodes.) 
Homer's  Iliad.     Pope  Trans.     Books  I,  VI,  XXII,  XXIV.     (Smyth.) 
Homer's  Odyssey.     Butcher  and  Lang  Trans.     (Carpenter.) 
"Homer's  Odyssey.     Pope  Trans.     Complete.     (Shumway.) 
Hughes's  Tom  Brown's  School  Days.     (Thomas.) 
'Huxley's  Selected  Essays  and  Addresses.     (Buck.) 
Irving's  Alhambra.     (Hitchcock.) 
Irving's  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York.     (Greenlaw.) 


THE      POCKET      CLASSICS      SERIES 

living's  Life  of  Goldsmith.     (Blakely.) 

"Irving'!  Sketch  Book. 

Irving's  Tales  of  a  Traveler.     (Chase.) 

Keary's  The  Heroes  of  Asgard.     (Morss.) 

Thomas  4  Kempis's  The  Imitation  of  Christ.     (Brother  Leo.) 

Kingsley's  The  Heroes,  or  Greek  Fairy  Tales.     (McMurry.) 

Lamb's  Essays  of  Elia.     (Robins.) 

Lamb's  Tales  from  Shakespeare.     (Ainger.) 

*Selections  from  Lincoln's  Addresses.     (Chubb.) 

Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott.     Abridged.     (Reid.) 

Longfellow's  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish.     (Lewis.) 

*Longfellow's  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  and  Minor  Poems.     (Howe.) 

Longfellow's  Evangeline.     (Semple.) 

Longfellow's  The  Song  of  Hiawatha.     (Fleming.) 

Longfellow's  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn.     (Castleman.) 

•"Lowell's  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal.     (Bates.) 

Macaulay's  Essay  on  Addison.     (French.) 

*Macaulay's  Essay  on  Clive.     (Pearce.) 

Macaulay's  Essay  on  Milton.     (French.) 

*Macaulay's  Essay  on  Warren  Hastings.     (Frick.) 

*Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  and  other  Poems.     (F.  T.  Baker.) 

*Macaulay's  Life  of  Johnson.     (Schuyler.) 

Malory's  Morte  d' Arthur.     (Swiggett.) 

Memorable  Passages  from  the  Bible.     Authorized  Version.     (Scott.) 

"•Milton's  Comus,  Lycidas,  and  other  Poems,  and  Matthew  Arnold's  Address 

on  Milton.     (Allen.) 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost.     Books  I  and  II.     (Crane.) 
Old  English  Ballads.     (Armes.) 
*Old  Testament  Selections.     (Scott.) 
*Palgrave's  Golden  Treasury  of  Songs  and  Lyrics. 
*Parkman's  The  Oregon  Trail.     (Douglas.) 
Plutarch's  Lives  of  Caesar,  Brutus,  and  Anthony.     (Brier.) 
*Poe's  Poems.     (Kent.) 
Poe's  Prose  Tales.     Selections. 
Poems  Narrative  and  Lyrical.     (St.  John.) 
*Pope's  Homer's  Iliad.     (Rhodes.) 

Pope's  Homer's  Iliad.     Books  I,  VI,  XXII,  XXIV.     (Smyth.) 
*Pope's  Homer's  Odyssey.     (E.  S.  and  W.  Shumway.) 
Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock.     (King.) 
Christina  Rossetti's  Poems.     Selections.     (Burke.) 
Ruskin's  Crown  of  Wild  Olive,  and  Queen  of  the  Air.     (Melton.) 
Ruskin's  Sesame  and  Lilies,  and  The  King  of  the  Golden  River.     (Bates.) 
*Scott's  Ivanhoe.     (Hitchcock.) 
Scott's  Kenilworth.      (Castleman.) 
*Scott's  Lady  of  the  Lake.     (Packard.) 
Scott's  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel.     (Bowles.) 
Scott's  Marmion.     (Aiton.) 
*Scott's  Quentin  Durward.     (Eno.) 
Scott's  Talisman.     (Treudley.) 
Select  Orations.     (Hall.) 
Selected  Poems  for  Required  Reading  in  Secondary  Schools.    (Boynton.) 


THE      POCKET      CLASSICS      SERIES 

Selections  for  Oral  Reading.     (Fuess.) 

Shakespeare's  As  You  Like  It.     (Gaston.) 

Shakespeare's  Hamlet.     (Sherman.) 

'Shakespeare's  King  Henry  V.     (Bowles.) 

^Shakespeare's  Julius  Caesar.     (G.  W.  and  L.  G.  Hufford.) 

Shakespeare's  King  Richard  n.     (Moffatt.) 

Shakespeare's  King  Lear.     (Buck.) 

*Shakespeare's  Macbeth.     (French.) 

Shakespeare's  Merchant  of  Venice.     (Underwood.) 

*Shakespeare's  Midsummer-Night's  Dream.     (Noyea.) 

Shakespeare's  The  Tempest.     (Newsom.) 

'Shakespeare's  Twelfth  Night.     (Morton.) 

Shelley  and  Keats.     Selections.     (Newsom.) 

Sheridan's  The  Rivals,  and  The  School  for  Scandal.     (Howe.) 

Short  Stories:   A  Collection.     (Pittenger.) 

Southern  Orators.     (McConnell.) 

Southern  Poets.     Selections.     (Weber.) 

Spenser's  Faerie  Queene.     Book  I.     (Wauchope.) 

Stevenson's  Kidnapped.     (Brown.) 

Stevenson's  Master  of  Ballantrae.     (White.) 

^Stevenson's  Travels  with  a  Donkey,  and  An  Inland  Voyage.     (Cross.) 

'Stevenson's  Treasure  Island.     (Vance.) 

Swift's  Gulliver's  Travels.     (Johnson.) 

*Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  King.     (French.) 

Tennyson's  In  Memoriam.     (Pearce.) 

Tennyson's  Princess.     (Farrand.) 

Tennyson's  Shorter  Poems.     (Nutter.) 

Thackeray's  English  Humorists.     (Castleman.) 

Thackeray's  Henry  Esmond.     (Henneman.) 

Thoreau's  Walden.     (Rees.) 

The  JEneid  of  Virgil.     Conington  Trans.     (Shumway.) 

Trevelyan's  Life  of  Macaulay.     Abridged.     (Barley.) 

'Washington's  Farewell  Address,  and  Webster's  Bunker  Hill  Orations.     (Peck.) 

*Whittier's  Snow-bound,  and  other  Poems.     (Bouton.) 

John  Woolman's  Journal. 

Wordsworth's  Shorter  Poems.     (Fulton.) 


*  Indicate,  title,  included  in  the  College  Entrance  Requirement*. 


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